Death Threats Against Captain Over Chinese Passengers
A steamship captain faces lethal warnings for transporting Chinese travelers into Seattle amidst local tension.
Of 101 Chinese travelers who arrived on the Danube from Vancouver, Collector Black admitted fifty-eight. Of the forty-four rejected, the court admitted fourteen, and the steamer sailed away this evening with the remaining thirty and five from the Haytian Republic who have been in jail a month. Captain Myer, of the Danube, received a letter today ornamented with a skull and crossbones, threatening that if he brought any more Chinese here his steamer would be blown up with dynamite.
“Captain Myer, of the Danube, received a letter today ornamented with a skull and crossbones.”
This reflects the volatile climate of the early 1890s in Seattle, where exclusionary policies and xenophobic violence were state-sanctioned and terror-driven. The use of anonymous threats against immigrant-carrying ships was a common, brutal tool used by local anti-Chinese factions to enforce their agenda.
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