The Battle for the Steamer Delta
A bitter dispute over ownership and control of a Puget Sound steamer leads to a legal standoff and a libel suit.
In the libeling of the little steamer Delta yesterday by Louis Henspeter for $155.55, claimed to be the balance due him as pilot, an interesting story is brought to light of a struggle for control and possession of the boat. In his complaint, Henspeter alleges that he was engaged last October by Capt. Troutman, owner of the boat, to act as pilot and master between Whatcom and Victoria, at a salary of $1 per month. Capt. Troutman told a different story: 'My wife and I sold one-half of the steamer last October to Louis Henspeter and J. Meyer for $4,000, and took a mortgage for $3,700. Henspeter told the lawyer to make the deed out to Meyer so as to protect him against his creditors. In the contract, none of the partners were to have any wages, but were to share the net earnings. They tried to get my wife off the boat and made it very unpleasant for her. They abused the boat shamefully and to such an extent that I felt it unsafe to travel in it. Last Thursday night, I went to the custom house and changed the master's papers from Henspeter's name to mine, and brought the steamer to this city and tied her up at Tester dock.' Capt. Troutman furnished bonds in the sum of $650 for the release of the steamer, and will do a general jobbing business in this city until the case is settled.
“They abused the boat shamefully and to such an extent that I felt it unsafe to travel in it.”
This dispute over the 'Delta' illustrates the cutthroat nature of the maritime trade in the 1890s, where ownership was often obscured by shell games to avoid creditors. The 'Tester dock' mentioned was a key part of the early Seattle waterfront, long since replaced by modern infrastructure.
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