The First Direct Shipment from China
The arrival of the American ship Mercury in Puget Sound signals the start of a massive new trade route.
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.
Today is an auspicious one for Puget Sound. The American ship Mercury arrived from China with 210,000 mats of rice and 3,000 packages of general merchandise. Her cargo will be discharged here and checked for duties, after which it will be shipped to the various ports of its destination on the Sound. This is the first cargo ever coming direct from China to Puget Sound, and is perhaps the forerunner of an immense trade.
“This is the first cargo ever coming direct from China to Puget Sound, and is perhaps the forerunner of an immense trade.”
The arrival of this cargo in 1883 represents the integration of the Pacific Northwest into the global trade network—a network that continues to define Seattle's status as a gateway city today. It also predates the intense, exclusionary anti-Chinese sentiment that would soon erupt in violence across the region.
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