The Tailor’s Basket: A Drunkard’s Violent Encounter with a Chinese Laundryman
In the tense racial climate of late-19th century Port Townsend, an intoxicated tailor attempted to pick a fight with a Chinese immigrant, only to be knocked unconscious by his own laundry basket.
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.
An inebriated tailor sought to pick a quarrel with a Chinese laundryman on Water Street yesterday. The laundryman tried vainly to escape the encounter.
He then swung his basket off his shoulder, used it as a weapon, and knocked out his assailant in short order.
This brief account highlights the volatile racial tensions of the Pacific Northwest during the post-Chinese Exclusion era, where public spaces like Water Street were frequent sites of conflict. It serves as a grim reminder of the systemic xenophobia that shaped early Washington communities, contrasting sharply with today's ongoing efforts to address historical injustices against Asian American populations.
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