The Opium Smuggler of the Union Depot
A traveler posing as a hardware salesman is arrested in Spokane after authorities discover 1,300 pounds of contraband in his luggage.
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.
A notorious opium smuggler operating on an extensive scale was arrested in Spokane today, and $15,000 worth of opium was captured. The prisoner gave his name as H.H. Davis, though he admitted it was not his true name. His actions excited the suspicions of two baggagemen at the union depot. Authorities were summoned, Davis was arrested, and four trunks were seized. He admitted his guilt, and the trunks were found to contain more than 1,300 pounds of contraband opium. He was held for trial on $5,000 bail. Davis's method had been to pass through British Columbia as a traveling man with four large sample trunks labeled 'hardware.' The opium was loaded at a point on the Coast and taken east to Kootenai River, then down into Montana to a point on the Great Northern. The baggagemen who made the discovery will receive a reward of about $7,500.
“Davis's method had been to pass through British Columbia as a traveling man with four large sample trunks labeled hardware.”
Smuggling operations in the Pacific Northwest have historically exploited the complex cross-border logistics of the region. While the commodities have changed from the 19th-century opium trade to modern-day illicit goods, the reliance on the rail and shipping corridors of the Inland Empire remains a constant factor in regional law enforcement.
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