The Cold Transit of the Ching Wo
Elderly Chinese passengers endure miserable, freezing conditions on a freight steamer as they seek a final journey home.
Huddled together between the steel decks of the big steamship Ching Wo, Chinese passengers are shivering with the cold. Poorly clad and most of them aged, the miserable travelers are barely surviving. All the passengers want is to get back to the graves of their forefathers before they die, so that they can be buried where no shadow will fall across their graves. Three of the passengers have died while the vessel has been in Tacoma harbor, from ailments brought on by exposure to the cold. Captain Parkinson, of the Ching Wo, said he is taking the best care of them in his power, but that a freight steamer is no place to attempt to carry passengers. They can stand anything but cold weather. Most of these individuals have been in the United States for many years and are now taking advantage of the $15 rate to return home. Their quarters are close and cold, though awnings have been slung on deck so they can sit in the sunshine on warm days. The Chinese Six Companies are overseeing the arrangements for those who perish, ensuring they are transported home to the Celestial Empire.
“All the Chinamen on the big steamship want is to get back to the graves of their forefathers before they die, so that they can be buried where no shadow will fall across their graves.”
This account captures the harsh realities of 19th and early 20th-century exclusionary immigration policies and the exploitation of Chinese laborers. While the 'Ching Wo' has long since left the harbor, the legacy of how Tacoma treated its Chinese residents remains a stark chapter in the city's history.
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