The Salted Sea: A Tacoma Captain’s War on the 'Blah' Price Gang
In a fiery letter to the editor, a local shipping captain denounces the collusion of dockworkers and merchants who inflate freight rates, vowing to bypass them entirely for cheaper ports.
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.
A Tacoma resident writes in anger about the exorbitant costs of shipping goods. The writer details how Captain Jacobs paid more for his supply at Adamstown than he would have had to pay if he had bought salt up 50 miles further away. In fact, at Fort Townsend, a steamer named 'Anacona' wouldn't take the freight from Seattle to Port Hadlock for a charge that would save the captain a large sum on cartage.
The writer is mad because Wilson, another operator, charged high rates last night for a small load, although he had no work to do. The writer states they can save money by buying goods of any description at less cost in Fort Townsend after paying their fare and other expenses. That is what the writer is mad about, and wishes all over, and wishes someone would say so over their signature.
The writer demands that newspapers get after these 'blah priced fellows' who are hiring against [the public] and make them come down on prices.
Meanwhile, in local shipping news, the Oscar, the Hallie, and the Monte Adams have both sailed for the fishing banks off Cape Flattery and are expected to return with a good catch within ten days. Captain Jacobs has ordered a refrigerator car to be at Seattle June 1st in anticipation of their early and complete success. The catch will be packed in ice and sent east on this car, arrangements having been completed to market immense quantities in the different cities of the east.
This 1904 letter captures the visceral frustration of small business owners fighting against what they perceive as predatory pricing and collusion by logistics providers. It mirrors modern debates over 'last-mile' delivery costs, platform monopolies, and the struggle of independent operators to compete with entrenched supply chain giants who dictate terms.
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