Deputies Hunt Chinese Laborers Near Woolley
Deputies conducted a nighttime manhunt for Chinese workers near the Lake Shore road, firing shots to flush them from hiding.
Inspectors of customs W. L. Meredith and Bowers discovered a number of Chinamen on the Lake Shore road, about half a mile north of Woolley, about 7:15 o'clock this evening. The Chinese immediately scattered, but Bowers captured two and Meredith one after a warm chase. It was very dark and the inspectors fired several shots to scare the Mongolians, but to no avail. Bowers and another deputy are still out expecting to run on to another batch.
“It was very dark and the inspectors fired several shots to scare the Mongolians, but to no avail.”
This item documents the state-sanctioned harassment of Chinese laborers in Washington, occurring in the shadow of the anti-Chinese expulsion era of the late 1880s. The casual, dehumanizing language used by the reporter reflects the systemic xenophobia of the period that would shape regional labor laws and demographics for decades.
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