A Smuggler’s Brassy Boast at the Custom House
A smuggler brazenly enters the Seattle Custom House while intoxicated, bragging to officials about moving people into the country illegally.
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.
Another chapter in the adventures of the daring little smuggling steamer has come to light. The captain, clearly drunk, visited the custom house, being just drunk enough to be funny and in a mood to 'josh' anybody. He entered the office and stated he had a new steamer built at Olympia which he wanted to clear for Victoria. When informed that a boat under five tons could not be cleared, he seemed satisfied and proceeded to get acquainted with the people in the office. The subject of smuggling was brought up and he boasted, in his drunken way, of having smuggled lots of Chinamen into the country, and 'joshed' the officers for not having caught him. Before leaving, he showed a gentleman a paper written in Chinese, which he said was a receipt for Chinamen landed in this country. The officers did not know the steamer was a smuggler until it was given away by one of the prisoners later.
“He boasted, in his drunken way, of having smuggled lots of Chinamen into the country, and 'joshed' the officers for not having caught him.”
This account highlights the corruption and lax enforcement at the border during a period of intense anti-Chinese sentiment and federal exclusion laws. The 'brassy' behavior of the smuggler illustrates the tension between the federal government’s restrictive policies and the reality of illicit trade on the Puget Sound.
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