The Ghost of the Anti-Chinese Riots
A mysterious agitator claims the soldiers have arrived to protect Seattle's Chinese population, triggering panic and confusion on the docks.
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.
Last Saturday, just before the sailing of the Southern Chief with her Chinese passengers from Victoria for Hong Kong, a well-dressed, good-looking young fellow went on board and told the passengers that the soldiers had come to Seattle to protect the Chinese, and that all who wanted to return to the Sound would be at liberty to do so. By his reports, he created quite an excitement among the Chinese, many of whom hastily packed up to go ashore. The officers of the ship attempted to pacify them and to keep them on board, when this young agitator rushed up to the office of American Consul Stevens, and after declaring that he was an American citizen, demanded that the Consul afford the Chinese from the American side an opportunity to leave the ship and return to the Sound. After listening to the man for some time, Consul Stevens came to the conclusion that the fellow was drunk and turned him out of the office. The indignant dude returned to the ship and again commenced his harangue to the Chinese, when Captain Bate got out of patience with him and kicked him off the ship.
“The indignant dude returned to the ship and again commenced his harangue to the Chinese, when Captain Bate got out of patience with him and kicked him off the ship.”
This incident captures the extreme volatility of Seattle in late 1885, when xenophobic anti-Chinese sentiment led to mass expulsions. The 'agitator's' false claim about federal protection highlights how desperate the situation was, as rumors became the only currency for a community under siege.
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