An Indecent Display at the Coal Bunkers
Seattle residents take offense as sailors from the barkentine Modoc turn the public waterfront into an impromptu swimming hole.
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.
The sailors belonging to the barkentine Modoc, which is beached near the old Seattle coal bunkers, for some days have been in the habit of bathing in the vicinity of the vessel. When it is understood that a number of respectable families live within a stone’s throw of the barkentine, the brutality of the sailors’ conduct will be appreciated. Certainly the authorities should make these vagabonds understand that they are within the limits of civilization, not in the South Seas.
“Certainly the authorities should make these vagabonds understand that they are within the limits of civilization, not in the South Seas.”
Public nudity remains a perennial flashpoint in Seattle’s waterfront culture, mirroring current tensions between maritime laborers, unhoused populations, and affluent residents in rapidly gentrifying coastal neighborhoods.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.