Tacoma Mill Closes, Leaving Sixty Workers Jobless
A receivership dispute leads to the shutdown of the Tacoma Lumber and Manufacturing Company, with laborers left in the cold.
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 Tacoma Lumber and Manufacturing Company's mills are to be shut down. The receiver in whose hands the property is holds that it could be operated and perhaps do something more than pay expenses, but Judge Stallcap decided to stop work. This will throw sixty men out of employment. The property is not turning out as well as was expected, the total valuation being $27,000, and there is not enough available to satisfy the laborers' liens.
“This will throw sixty men out of employment.”
This reflects the volatile nature of the timber economy at the turn of the century, where mill closures often left the working class with unpaid liens while legal disputes between creditors and receivers stalled the local economy.
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