The Opium Dens of Justice Hammer
A police raid on opium dens and gambling halls nets a large group of Chinese residents and three white men in the heart of Seattle.
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.
There were fifty-six Chinamen in all brought into Justice Hammer’s court this morning and fined. Out of this number, seven were charged with smoking opium. Four of them were taken yesterday from Joe Sing’s laundry. With them was a woman who gave her name as Wilson, and three white men. The woman was found reclining on a cushion in the act of smoking; she said she had never been in such a place before. About 10 o’clock last evening, forty-nine Chinamen were found by a squad of police in a Chinese laundry engaged in playing with dominoes and cards at the celestial game of bang 100. They were locked up and this morning Justice Hammer administered a fine to all concerned.
“The woman was found reclining on a cushion in the act of smoking; she said she had never been in such a place before.”
This raid occurred during a period of escalating anti-Chinese sentiment in the Pacific Northwest, with police targeting both the individuals and the physical spaces—laundries and private rooms—that Chinese immigrants utilized. Today, these sites are often recognized as historically significant neighborhoods, but in 1883, they were subject to constant surveillance and criminalization under the guise of enforcing 'morals' laws.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.