Logging Camp Cook Sues for Back Pay
After cooking for a crew and cutting 140,000 feet of timber, a camp cook files a lien on the logs themselves to recover his unpaid wages.
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.
Ernest Berger commenced a suit in the superior court yesterday to recover $76.15 for services as cook in Oscar L. Allen's logging camp from October 23, 1893, to March 9, 1894. In his complaint, Berger alleges that he received only $160 during that period; that besides cooking he worked at cutting and securing sawlogs covering about 140,000 feet; that on the 5th day of April last he filed his notice of lien on the logs to cover balance due him for services as cook, which lien was recorded and for filing which he paid $5. He wants $76.15 balance on wages, together with costs and attorney's fees.
“He filed his notice of lien on the logs to cover balance due him for services as cook.”
Worker protection and the difficulty of recouping wages in extractive industries like logging are persistent issues. Filing a lien directly against the product of one's labor remains a distinct, albeit rare, legal maneuver that highlights the vulnerability of contract workers.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.