Tacoma Shippers Fear for the Shawmut
Global tensions from the Russo-Japanese War reach Tacoma as merchants worry about a local steamship being intercepted.
Since the report of the capture of the steamship Calchas was published last night, the foreign shipping problem has come in for a good deal of attention. The Calchas was loaded with meats, flour, and general merchandise for Japan and other foreign ports. Now that the vessel has been taken by the Russians, interest in the steamship Shawmut, which left Tacoma about a week after the Calchas, has increased among local shippers. It is feared that if the ship follows her regular northern route, she may be intercepted. Rumors circulate that a dispatch boat may be sent to warn the Shawmut to divert her course to avoid the Russian fleet.
“Interest in behalf of the steamship Shawmut... has increased among Tacoma shippers.”
Tacoma’s economy has always been tied to global logistics, a reality made clear by this story from 1904. The anxiety over the Shawmut reflects the profound impact of distant geopolitical conflicts on the port city’s immediate commercial survival.
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