The Sound Goes Silent: Steamboat Crews Strike Over Wage Cuts

SOUND STEAMERS TIE UP.

Steamer Employees Strike Over 10 Per Cent Reduction in Wages.

On Monday, Port Captain Clancy, of Tacoma, who has charge of the boats of the O.R. & N. Co. on the Sound region, issued orders received from Portland reducing the wages of all steamer employees who get $50 and over per month by 10 percent. The employees were given until tonight to make up their minds as to accepting the reduction.

Yesterday it was currently reported that all the steamers would tie up as soon as they reached their respective headquarters. The Hayward, Potter, Olympian and North Pacific have their headquarters at Tacoma, while the Hasalo and George E. Starr, which run on the Whatcom route, have their headquarters in this city. It was stated that all the captains, mates, pursers, stewards and engineers are affected by this order and all have struck or will strike with one exception, and that is Captain Thomas Davis of the Harvard.

The Hasalo was tied up to the O.R. & N. dock yesterday afternoon and the Geo. E. Starr it was claimed will be in the same position today.

The strike on the Sound is but a continuation of one begun on the river by the employees of the O.R. & N. on the Columbia and Willamette rivers where all the boats were tied up on Monday. The strike will have a disastrous effect on the mails all over the Sound if it is kept up for any great length of time. The loss in mail contracts to the O.R. & N. Co. will amount to considerable.

A well-known steamboat man was seen yesterday in relation to the matter and stated that he thought it would be quite a difficult matter to find men to fill the place of the strikers. "It is very difficult," he said, "to replace the men who are in the employ of the O.R. & N. Co. The captains and engineers are licensed by the State, and it would hardly do to replace them with irresponsible men. It would be the height of folly to place the Olympian, which costs several hundred thousand dollars, in the hands of an incompetent man, to say nothing of the many valuable lives which would be at his mercy. I do not think, therefore, that it will be an easy matter to find substitutes for the men who have struck. If the strikers were a lot of unskilled men there would be but very little trouble in securing others for their places, but they are a lot of skilled, responsible men, the like of whom cannot be picked up in a few hours, or even in a few days."

THE SITUATION AT TACOMA.

The following dispatch from Tacoma shows the situation there:

TACOMA, March 5.—The T.J. Potter was the first of the O.R. & N. boats to tie up this afternoon at Tacoma on account of the 10 percent reduction of the wages of employees. The Potter people wanted to start here this morning, but were prevailed upon by the captain to make the trip down the Sound and to return here this afternoon, when she was tied up on her arrival at 4 o'clock. The Hayward came in at 6 and she was also served the same way. The North Pacific is expected at 10 tonight, when she will tie up also. The Olympian's crew will quit at Seattle tomorrow. No intimation has been given the men of the proposed reduction, and as wages at their best are far from extravagant, the feeling is that they are not being treated fair, and it is promised to tie up every O.R. & N. boat on the Sound.

INCREASED TO RESUME WORK.

At 1:30 this morning the following dispatch was received:

TACOMA, March 6.—A telegram was received here late tonight from C.W. Johnson, superintendent of O.R. & N. Company, at Portland, requesting the men to return to work at the old wages, pending the receipt of word from headquarters what the company intends to do regarding the enforcement of the recent order. If the men refuse to turn over till word has been received from headquarters.

MUCH COMMENT AT PORT TOWNSEND.

The following dispatch shows the feeling at Port Townsend:

PORT TOWNSEND, March 5.—The reduction in the wages of the steamboat men in the employ of the O.R. & N., so announced in this morning's Post-Intelligencer, creates much comment here. It is understood that the employees on Puget division have until tomorrow night to decide whether or not they will accept the reduction. The crew on the Olympian, which arrived this afternoon, from captain down, made no secret of their intention not to accept the reduction, but will leave the steamer in a body. Shipping men here are inclined to think that there will be no O.R. & N. boats between here and Seattle after tomorrow.

THE GENERAL STRIKE.

Port Captain Clancy of Tacoma arrived in Seattle last night on the 9:00 o'clock train. He immediately held a consultation with the crew of the Hasalo. What was done at the meeting is not known, but the Hasalo departed on her regular route on schedule time last and it is understood that she will continue until further notice. One of the crew of the Hasalo was seen last evening, when he stated that the officers agreed to continue work only on the promise of being given their regular pay.

The O.R. & N. Co. has a contract to carry the mails between here and Whatcom on the Hasalo, and it is likely that the company prefers to pay a few dollars to the men rather than to forfeit money on their mail contract, besides laying themselves liable to a fine.

CAPTAIN CLANCY TAKES POSITIONS.

Capt. Clancy was seen at a little before midnight by a Post-Intelligencer reporter. He said: "I have effected a temporary agreement with the Hasalo's crew and will return on the morning train, when I shall endeavor to fix up an agreement with the crew of the North Pacific, which is our other mail carrying steamer. Of this refusal of the men to go to work there is nothing to be asked, because it is an affair between the company and the men. The public is in no way discommoded, as car accommodations between here and all the points at which our boats touch may be had."

ON THE COLUMBIA.

All the O.R. & N. Boats But One Tied Up.

PORTLAND, March 5.—Officials of the O.R. & N. Co. and the striking captains had a conference yesterday but no compromise could be reached. The strikers have increased their demands by raising mate's wages to $75.

Three of the company's boats came to-day and were tied up. Eight are now at the wharf and there is one more to come in. The officers and crew of all the boats were paid off, and no one is around the wharf except the watchmen.