The Unwarranted Detention of Chinese Miners
Four Chinese men are arrested and detained in Seattle while passing through to their homeland.
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.
On Thursday evening, Deputy United States Marshal D. W. West arrested four Chinese men at Yesler's wharf. They could talk very little English and were inquiring for Wa Chong's place. Yesterday morning they were given a hearing before United States Commissioner Spriggs and were released, there being no evidence that they were not lawfully in the United States, and Wa Chong offering to furnish bond that they would depart for China next Tuesday. It appears that they had come from Walla Walla, in the vicinity of which they had been mining, gardening, and farming, and were on their way to China. They had several of their tools with them, and one had $1,600, most of which was in gold, sewn into the front of his vest.
“There being no evidence that they were not lawfully in the United States.”
This reflects the hyper-vigilance and state-sponsored harassment of Chinese residents in Washington during the late 19th century, a time of persistent anti-immigrant exclusion.
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