The Stranded Crew of the 'Tidal Wave'
Fourteen mariners take the US Marshals to court in Seattle to claim unpaid wages after being abandoned in Port Madison.
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.
In the District Court for the Third Judicial District of Washington Territory, holding terms at Seattle, in King County, on the twenty-fifth day of March, 1880, Z. Simarssen, John Grant, Tom M. Hoy, Wm. Lewis, John Colenzki, John Horn, Martin Christopher, Henrick Henricks, John Lawson, William Anderson, T. Andrus, Clemens Bonnebaum, Oscar Lendholm, and H. Larson, late mariners on board the American bark 'Tidal Wave,' filed a libel. They alleged that in January 1880, at the port of San Francisco, they shipped into the service of the bark to proceed to Port Madison, Washington Territory, to load cargo. They asserted that the voyage was fully terminated at Port Madison, yet they were discharged without being paid their wages, nor were they provided compensation for their time, food, and lodging for their return to San Francisco. The fourteen men filed claims ranging from $50 to $95 each. U.S. Marshal Charles Hopkins issued a public notice for all interested parties to appear before the court in Seattle on the first Monday of May 1880 to address the claims against the vessel, her tackle, apparel, and furniture.
“Praying process against said vessel, her tackle, apparel and furniture, and that the same may be condemned and sold to pay the said wages, damages, compensation and expenses.”
This 1880 legal battle over wage theft and stranded workers highlights a centuries-old maritime struggle. Today's Seattle waterfront continues to grapple with labor disputes and the rights of transient workers, echoing the same power imbalance between capital and labor found in the nineteenth-century shipping trade.
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