Opium Seizure in the Third Judicial District
Federal authorities move to condemn fifty pounds of contraband opium found concealed within a house in 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.
The United States vs. fifty pounds of prepared opium. Information filed by John B. Allen, United States Attorney for Washington Territory, alleges that on February 17, 1885, A. W. Bash, Collector, seized one hundred half-pound cans containing fifty pounds of prepared opium. The goods were found concealed in a house situated in the city of Seattle, the import duties not having been paid. The court has set the matter for hearing on March 18, 1885, to condemn the goods and distribute proceeds according to law.
“The said goods, wares and merchandise have become and are forfeited to the uses in said statutes specified.”
This legal notice highlights the era's aggressive federal approach to regulating the opium trade in the Pacific Northwest, which was deeply intertwined with the anti-Chinese sentiment of the 1880s in Washington Territory.
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