Crew of Steamer Idaho Sues for Unpaid Wages
Fourteen mariners file a federal libel suit against their own vessel, alleging the ship's owners failed to pay their wages.
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.
Whereas, a libel has been filed in the District Court of the United States for the District of Washington, Northern Division, on the 6th day of September, 1892, by Louis A. Johnson, Frank Anderson, James Hartley, E. C. Smith, Jack Forbes, L. A. Lonsdale, Fred Meader, Sam Peterson, Fred King, Pete Nelson, Ed Vancamp, Robert Wood, Thomas L. Tyman, and Frank Crap, marines, etc., against the steamer Idaho, her tackle, apparel, boilers, furniture, etc. The libellants allege in substance that said steamboat Idaho is a domestic vessel carrying freight and passengers between Seattle and various ports of Puget Sound, and that there is due to said libellants as employees upon said steamer, in their various capacities as marines, engineers, firemen, carpenters, etc., the sums set forth in said libel, no part of which has been paid. The court is asked to issue process against said steamer and order the vessel and her tackle sold to pay their wages.
“There is due to said libellants as employees upon said steamer... the sums set forth in said libel, no part of which has been paid.”
Maritime labor disputes remain a critical part of Seattle's waterfront economy. Just as these sailors had to use the federal court system to claim their earnings in 1892, modern maritime workers rely on federal admiralty law to secure back pay and safety protections against out-of-state vessel owners.
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