The Smuggler Who 'Skipped' Town
After her arrest for opium smuggling, Hattie Hastings of Port Angeles has vanished, leaving the community debating her innocence and her connection to a larger criminal ring.
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.
Hattie Hastings, arrested by Inspector Learnard for smuggling opium, has fled Port Angeles, likely encouraged by associates in a local smuggling ring. While Hastings was sympathetic to local residents who saw her as a bright woman pushed into crime by financial hardship, authorities believe she was a small player in a larger, organized network. This ring, reportedly operating between British Columbia and the Puget Sound, utilizes steam launches to land opium and Chinese laborers under the cover of night. Hastings's parents refuse to disclose her whereabouts, and it is widely believed that her peers in the smuggling ring facilitated her departure to protect their own interests.
“It is well known to the customs officials that Port Angeles contains quite an interesting smuggling ring. Situated as this city is it is easy for smugglers to bring their opium or Chinamen across the Straits, landing in the night.”
This story highlights the intense anti-Chinese sentiment and the legislative landscape of the 1880s and 90s, where the 'smuggling' of people was a response to federal exclusion laws. The story captures the intersection of desperation and organized illegal trade in the remote reaches of the Salish Sea.
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