The Laundry Con Artists
Two men posing as city water works employees extorted a Chinese laundry owner, sparking a police crackdown on a recurring racket.
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.
H. McLean and plumber Robert Donaldson were arrested yesterday afternoon on the complaint of Yik Wah Charley, proprietor of the laundry at 2103 West street, North Seattle. The laundryman rushed into police headquarters from the department of water works in the City Hall and reported that two men were working on the water pipes in his shop, and he didn't want them to do anything. He said they claimed to be working for the city. Officer Stepier went to the laundry and to his surprise found McLean with his coat off, superintending the work Donaldson was doing. At headquarters, McLean said they were engaged in a legitimate business, and when taken before Judge Glasgow to have his bonds fixed, he said that the fight would be over a question of fact: whether they told the laundryman they were in the employ of the city, or if they did not fix their water faucets, the city would have them arrested. Superintendent of Water Works Calligan said that of late he had received several complaints of men going into laundries and obtaining work by telling the proprietors that if it was not done they would be arrested. It is probable that the charge made against McLean and his partner will be obtaining money under false pretenses.
“The laundryman rushed into police headquarters... and told Capt. Hogie that two men were working on the water pipes in his shop, and he didn't want them to do anything.”
This incident highlights the historical vulnerability of Seattle’s Chinese immigrant business owners, who were frequently targeted by city-sanctioned harassment or, as in this case, by grifters leveraging the fear of city authority. Today, the street names and neighborhood dynamics have evolved, but the intersection of immigrant labor and municipal scrutiny remains a sensitive and recurring theme in the city's civic life.
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