The Wharfside Standoff
A group of longshoremen confront laborers attempting to work for lower wages at the Spring Street wharf.
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.
Ever since the three-masted schooner Allen A. arrived in port, the longshoremen have been making things warm for men employed to discharge and load cargo. Yesterday the schooner began loading lumber at Spring Street wharf for the Western Mill, and Captain Schage hired two men to push the lumber aboard at $2 per day each. The men were both in need of work, but had only been at work a short time when from thirty to forty longshoremen came around and frightened them off. The longshoremen wanted 40 cents per hour for the work. Captain Schage did not hire them, but with one of the crew handled the lumber himself.
“The longshoremen wanted 40 cents per hour for the work. Capt. Schage did not hire them, but with one of the crew handled the lumber himself.”
This clash over waterfront wages captures the early volatility of Seattle's labor market, foreshadowing the intense industrial disputes that would define the city's growth in the early 20th century.
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