A Knife Fight in the Bay: Union Sailors Ambush a Non-Union Crew
A boarding master tries to ship five strikebreakers onto an Alaska salmon schooner at Port Townsend. Twelve union men are waiting in the water, and the fight that follows leaves every non-union sailor hurt and swimming for shore.
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.
PORT TOWNSEND, Sept. 1. — [Special.] — A desperate encounter between sailors occurred at this port tonight. The schooner is bound for Redfish harbor, Alaska, for a cargo of salmon. A boarding master attempted to place a crew of five non-union men on board. Union sailors lay in ambush for the non-union boat; both parties met in the bay and a pitched battle ensued. Knives, revolvers and clubs were drawn and unsparingly used. The non-unionists were routed, and after losing all their effects overboard returned to shore, all the members being more or less injured. The attacking party numbered over twelve. Under escort of Chief of Police Delancy and a force of police the non-unionists were finally placed on board the vessel.
“Knives, revolvers and clubs were drawn and unsparingly used. The non-unionists were routed, and after losing all their effects overboard returned to shore.”
Before the 1886 waterfront riots, before the Wobblies, the fight over who could work a ship was already being settled with knives in Puget Sound harbors. The boarding master's trade — supplying crews for cash, union or not — was the flashpoint, and the police ended up functioning as an escort service for strikebreakers. Replace the schooner with a container ship and the shape of the argument has not changed much.
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