The Paper Daughters of Chinatown - Heather B. Moore Page 0,64

San Jose in mass meeting assembled denounce the late outrage committed at Palo Alto by officers of Santa Clara county in the name of the law upon Miss Cameron of the Presbyterian Mission of San Francisco and the Chinese women in her charge.

“We admire the fearless, heroic, and womanly action of Miss Cameron in her efforts to prevent the abduction of her ward, which was accomplished under the guise of law.”

—“Palo Alto Resolution,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 3, 1900

April 1900

“Are you ready?” Attorney Weigle asked Dolly as they stood outside Turn Verein Hall, where the hearing for the Palo Alto scandal would take place. And scandal it had become.

The lawyer for Chung Bow and Wong Fong had been identified and accused of hatching the abduction plot.

“The rumors are just rumors,” Weigle told Dolly.

“The gang bosses are using their people to intimidate the judge,” Dolly said. Word was that people had been recruited in support of Attorney Herrington, the lawyer who represented the Chinese owner.

“True,” Weigle agreed. “But we have used our power as well to combat the supporters of Herrington.”

She stared into the lawyer’s eyes. “Such as?”

Weigle leaned close, the musty spice of pipe smoke about him, reminding her for an instant of Officer Cook. “Paul Dinsmore raised five hundred dollars to charter a train from Palo Alto. They filled it with Stanford students, and they’re in the center section of the great Hall.”

Dolly’s pulse skipped. “They’re here? Right now?”

Weigle grinned. “Yes.”

She would not cry. She had to be strong and eloquent as she faced the judge. Clutching her hands in front of her in a tight grip, she said, “I am ready.”

Weigle nodded and opened the door leading to the corridor that led to the Hall. As the pair of them stepped inside, the hushed murmurs of the gathered audience went silent. Hundreds of pairs of eyes watched Donaldina Cameron walk with Attorney Weigle to their places.

She knew her face had flushed, but she kept her chin lifted and focused on taking steady breaths. Weigle gave her a nod of approval and encouragement as they took their seats.

The chairman, Colonel Whitton, wasted no time in beginning his opening remarks, in which he explained that the meeting had been called to denounce the actions that had taken place in Palo Alto by the officers of the law.

His speech was frequently interrupted by applause and calls of agreement from the student body. Dolly’s heart expanded at each utterance from the supportive audience. There was no secret as to which side of the issue they all supported. Whenever Whitton mentioned the Palo Alto justice, the audience groaned, bringing laughter to the inane situation they all found themselves in.

Then, Colonel Whitton called upon Miss Donaldina Cameron.

With her heart beating in her throat, Dolly rose. All eyes were on her again, and she knew that her words had never had such impact as they would now. With the eyes of her supporters on her, as well as those who wished her to disappear from the face of the earth, Dolly stood before the chairman and began to speak.

She started at the beginning.

Her words might have started out a bit hesitant, but soon her passion thundered in her chest, and she told the captive audience every detail of the journey, including the final moments of seeing Kum Quai dragged away by the jailer, then carted off with two Chinese men who thought they were above the law and God himself.

“Lo Mo,” Dolly said. “Those were the final words I heard Kum Quai say. Lo Mo is what a Chinese daughter calls a beloved mother, for I am Kum Quai’s mother.”

When Dolly returned to her seat, it was to the thunderous applause and foot stamping by those who had called for justice and change weeks before in the streets of Palo Alto while they had stoked the flames of the bonfire.

Chairman Brun of the Palo Alto investigation committee was next up on the docket, and he read the statement, which perfectly corroborated Dolly’s story. Then Attorney Weigle took his turn conveying his agreement with Miss Donaldina Cameron and the need to find and liberate Kum Quai.

The doors at the back of the room banged open, and a tall man walked in. He might have been considered handsome, with his piercing eyes and determined jaw, but with his entrance, Dolly felt only a foreboding. Attorney Herrington had the gall to attend the meeting. It was as if she were facing a member of the leering tong—men and