Turf War at the Eleventh Street Bridge
A boatman is harassed and detained by police for the crime of competing for ferry passengers.
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.
Yesterday there was a mix-up between A. Foss, the boatman at the Commercial dock, and Kirby Alger, who have been running boats and launches to the cruiser Tacoma from the Eleventh street bridge. An attempt was made to prevent Mr. Foss from running his launches to the cruiser on the ground that he was violating a city ordinance by calling the attention of people on the bridge to his boats. He was threatened with bodily harm and the police were notified that he was hawking without a license. He was taken to the police station three different times before the matter was finally settled and his innocence fully established. Each time a complaint was lodged against him, he was prevented from selling tickets for an hour. This resulted in considerable loss to Mr. Foss, but added considerably to the profits of the other company.
“Each time a complaint was lodged against him he was prevented from selling tickets for an hour. This resulted in considerable loss to Mr. Foss.”
The waterfront battles for passengers and territory echo modern-day tensions between gig-economy transport services and established transit operators. In Tacoma, then as now, the hustle for the harbor can turn litigious and cutthroat.
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