The Hidden Scourge on the Rooftop
When a cigar factory worker in Seattle was discovered to be rotting from a mysterious disease, it sparked a local panic over health, labor, and the limits of the city's care.
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.
A young German cigar dealer reported discovering a case of leprosy at police headquarters recently, and Officer Michaels was sent with him to investigate it. His evidence led him to the Wong I Wo cigar factory, on Pacific street, just above Dupont, and pointed out his find on a small shelf-like structure built on the roof of the factory. The sick man’s face and hands showed few signs of disease, but the crown of his head and the joints of his body were perfectly rotten. Great running sores covered many portions of his body, and had eaten deep holes, ranging from a half inch to two inches in diameter. One of his legs was so far gone that his boot was nearly filled with matter, from which a frightful stench arose. Michaels was so sickened by the sight that he did not wait to call in a physician, but summoned the express wagon and hauled the sick man off to the pest house post haste. There is a doubt existing whether the Chinaman's disease was really leprosy or an advanced stage of syphilis. He has been employed in the factory as a tobacco stripper for many years, and only quit work recently, when he became too ill to stand it.
“One of his legs was so far gone that his boot was nearly filled with matter, from which a frightful stench arose.”
This 1885 account reveals how Seattle’s early public health concerns were often intertwined with xenophobic tropes and the exploitation of immigrant labor. Today, we view public health crises through a lens of equity and clinical support rather than police-led removal, though the tension between industrial working conditions and city health remains a vital, ongoing conversation.
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