The Revenue Cutter Steward’s Opium Cache
A longtime employee of the U.S. revenue cutter 'Oliver Wolcott' is arrested for smuggling opium from British Columbia, exposing a decade-long secret life.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
One of the most remarkable arrests made by customs officers in recent years was effected this afternoon aboard the United States revenue cutter Oliver Wolcott. The captain's steward, Ling Sing, was arrested by Deputy United States Marshal Lee Baker and taken before Commissioner Swan, charged with smuggling into the United States from British Columbia eighteen five-tael cans of the finest prepared opium. The cutter was over at Victoria yesterday, and Ling Sing was allowed the privilege of going ashore. He returned aboard in the usual manner with a small-sized package under his arm. As the Chinaman stepped aboard he was jostled by one of the crew and accidentally dropped his package on the deck. He quickly picked it up and hurried to his room in a suspicious manner. The incident was reported to the captain, who decided to search his quarters. A detail from the forecastle went through the Chinaman's room and unearthed eighteen cans of opium, valued at $110, neatly concealed beneath his bunk. Ling Sing has been employed as the cutter's cabin steward for the last ten or twelve years and enjoyed the confidence of all the officers aboard. It is surmised that his smuggling may have reached into the thousands of dollars, using his opportunities to get it ashore and market it at any of the Puget Sound towns. He will be tried next Monday morning.
“Of late years, on account of having been on the vessel so long, he has conducted himself so independently that he thought that he owned the vessel.”
This incident captures the heavy-handed customs enforcement of the late 19th century in the Pacific Northwest, where the 'opium trade' served as a convenient pretense for racialized surveillance of Chinese residents. The 'Oliver Wolcott' was a key tool in the U.S. government's early efforts to police borders and movement in the Salish Sea, a dynamic that remains a central friction point in regional politics today.
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