The Opium Raid at Hoquiam
Four men were arrested and fined for smoking opium as federal officials clamped down on the practice in the Harbor.
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.
Last night four men at Hoquiam were caught in the act of smoking opium by a Deputy Collector. They were hauled up before a justice of the peace, where two pleaded guilty to the state law against smoking opium. Each of the four was fined twenty dollars and costs. All paid their fines, except Charley Sing, cook for Geo. H. Emerson, who decided to serve out his time in the cooler. He knew he would have been targeted by the federal officers at once for having contraband opium in his possession. Despite the fact that there were some in Hoquiam who would attempt to use intimidation and otherwise prevent the law from taking its course in the case of these notorious opium fiends, it is known that strenuous efforts were made to have Charley Sing go free.
“Despite the fact that there were some in Hoquiam who would attempt to use intimidation... to prevent the law from taking its course, it is known that strenuous efforts were made to have Charley Sing go free.”
This 1892 arrest reflects the era's criminalization of Chinese immigrants and the moral panic surrounding opium use, which often served as a pretext for harassment. Similar 'law and order' campaigns have historically been used to displace or profile migrant communities in Washington, a theme that echoes in contemporary debates over local policing and demographic shifts.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.