The Unraveling of Lee Wa Poo

Thomas Nelligan, constable at Renton, arrived in Seattle Sunday evening, having in custody a Chinaman named Lee Wa Poo, who had been arrested on a charge of insanity. The Chinaman was locked in jail until Tuesday afternoon, when his examination took place in Judge Wood's Court, Dr. G. A. Weed officiating as examining physician. The testimony showed that Lee Wa Poo came to the Sound about ten years ago, and worked on a wash-house at Olympia. About four years ago he came to Seattle and showed unmistakable signs of insanity, but his mania was of so harmless a type that no notice was paid to him. He sold fish about the streets and did other kinds of work up to eight or nine months ago, when he went to Renton and opened a wash-house in a blacksmith shop, but he and the blacksmith could not agree, so the Chinaman moved his stove and washing implements out under trees, where he carried on his business for some time. Finally he rented a house belonging to Frank Hurn, which building has recently furnished two other insane patients for the asylum. In this little house Lee seemed to get along all right, though at times his actions were rather eccentric, until Sunday morning, when he took an axe and broke every window to the house, then chopped the handle of the axe with a hatchet, with which he broke up his table, and finally took a butcher knife and tried to carve up the stove. His mania seems to be that certain persons have been stealing from him and that he possesses large sums of money. When asked why he destroyed his property he said he did it to keep people from stealing it. When asked if he was crazy, he replied: 'I no know whether crazy or not. Heap men speak me crazy, I no know.' He has a brother in San Francisco who is said to be well off, who will be notified of the affair; in the meantime the insane Chinaman will be cared for at the hospital in the meantime.