The tugboat blockade at Grays Harbor
A local editor exposes a corrupt tugboat manager for sabotaging a critical federal survey of the harbor bar.
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 Oregonian reported last week that Assistant United States Engineer McMillan returned to Portland from Hoquiam without completing soundings of the Grays Harbor bar. It has been developed that the soundings were never made because interested parties refused to encourage the work unless performed according to terms dictated by the manager of the tug company, whose vessel was engaged to transport the engineers. The manager required that one of his own tugs furnish the leadsman. This offer was rejected. Afterwards, the leadsman of the engineer's party was approached with propositions to give false soundings. Upon learning this, the assistant engineer returned to Portland to report. The manager of this tug company has posed as a philanthropist to Chehalis county, but his mental vision never squinted beyond his own personal aggrandizement. His conduct in this case indicates that he is, like all bulldozers, a coward at heart who fears a complete and impartial harbor survey will prove odious to his 'north channel' pet schemes.
“His mental vision, either through one or both eyes, never squinted beyond his own personal aggrandizement.”
Harbor infrastructure and deep-water access remain a perennial subject of economic tension in Aberdeen. The historical struggle to prevent monopolistic interests from controlling port development mirrors modern ongoing debates regarding civic control over Grays Harbor's shipping channels and economic future.
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