A Case of Mistaken Identity or Cold-Blooded Theft?
A Chinese merchant is jailed after being accused of robbing a countryman, but claims he is the victim of a vindictive setup.
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 evening a Chinaman presented himself at the Police Court and stated that he had been robbed of $50 in gold by a man from Portland named Lee Toy and another accomplice. Officers Kelly and Thornton found Lee Toy at the Cottage by the Sea, waiting for the North Pacific. He was taken to jail; no gold was found, but he had $23 in silver and a letter from Honorable Rufus Mallory of Oregon, attesting that Lee Toy was a member of a reputable mercantile firm in Portland and was traveling to Victoria to be married. Lee Toy claims his arrest is a put-up job by a gang of local Chinese who dislike him. He is an intelligent man who writes English well and has telegraphed his Portland associates for help. The case will be heard before Justice Cann today.
“Lee Toy claims that his arrest is a put-up job by a gang of Chinamen who dislike him and once before attempted to kill him.”
This report highlights the precarious position of Chinese immigrants in 1880s Seattle, where they were often vulnerable to trumped-up charges and the bias of local police, yet it also documents a rare moment where an individual's status and literacy were presented as part of his defense.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.