The Hotel Opium Haul
A mysterious guest leaves behind two massive trunks at a Tacoma hotel, only for customs officials to raid the room and uncover hundreds of pounds of contraband.
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.
Between 300 and 400 pounds of opium was seized Saturday night at the Hotel Nicollet, formerly the Lafayette House. The seizure has been kept secret while an effort has been made to trap the owner, who left the dope at the hotel in two big trunks—one a Saratoga and the other a square iron trunk. He came to the hotel at dusk, asked for a room, and had the trunks placed inside before departing hurriedly, claiming he had to meet his wife arriving from Spokane. He never returned. A few hours later, customs officers raided the hotel. Proprietor T. F. Curley initially refused to allow them into room No. 10, stating he did not propose to have his guest's personal effects disturbed, but the officers eventually displayed their badges and secured the trunks.
“Proprietor T. F. Curley at first refused to allow them to enter his guest's room... saying he did not propose to have his personal effects disturbed.”
The illicit trade through Washington ports has a long history, as does the cat-and-mouse game between federal authorities and the transient figures navigating these black markets. The 'secret seizure' and the hotel raid capture a classic moment of turn-of-the-century law enforcement in a booming port city.
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