The Red Cloud chief., 1910-06-02

be paid out of the debtors hide" or his wages.
Boarding masters of this class petty
calls. They dealt in men at retail The brothers
John and Peter Sherman, of lrvington, on the Pa
cific coast, were of another type. They dealt in
men wholesale. shipped entire crews. Their
boarding houses were licensed by the govern
ment. Captains bargained with them openly.
The shipping commissioner of the port winked
at their devious ways, crowd of thugs, run.
ners and hangerson served them and thrived by
their favor They men of substance and
owned or controlled as part Of their business ev-
cry saloon. dance hall and resort in the crooked
streets and dark alleys about the wharves. Upper
lrvington drew deadline about the waterfront
and seldom ventured over 1t outside of business
hours. Jack and Pete Sherman were kings OF
Irvingtons sailortown
Every autumn saw big feet Of wind Jam.
mers"-ships Of 1000 to 5000 tons register-ying
off Irvington. The wheat of the new northwest
was in their holds. consigned to ports In Europe
or India. by way of the six.months' journey
round the Horn. The wheat fleet. Irvngton
called It, and when the wheat fleet came. upper
Irvington stirred ITSELF sailortown reused to
vicious life and the sailortown kings reaped a
harvest Of blood money.
No captain shipped crew from Irvngton un.
I'll he had done business with the kings and paid
their price. Captain Brown, Of the bark Carmar-
thaenshire, learned that to his cost. He put into
Irvington for cargo at time when ships were
plenty and men hard to get. He was uncon-
cernod, for his men had been shipped In England
and would not be discharged until the home port
reached. Captains of deep-laden vessels ly
ing In the stream eyed -the Carmarthaenshire's
enviously. Jack Sherman quietly sent a
man or two aboard the "limejuicer' to visit and
smuggle in forbidden whisky. BY twos and
tlrrees Captain Browns crew left him and were
hidden about saortown. The Irvngton police
were asked to bring them back, but however hard
they looked for deserters they didn't find any.
Then one dark night the rest OF the crew van.
ished over the side, to the last man. after knock
ing the breath out Of Captain Brown and tricing
the mate up to the main flferail, And before the
astonished captain could recover breath enough
to roar for "aw" Jack and Pete Sherman had his
men shipped in one Of the waiting vessels and
away. Next day the captain was waited on by
the kings, who blandly offered to find him new
| crew-at $50 the man. He roared again--to the
British consul, to his shipping agents, to the po-
J lce who were sympathetic but helpless. Nobody
| could bo found to even hint that the kings had
| any hand in the affair and the shipping commits
| sioner's records clear. He had shipped no
deserters that he knew of.
But Captain Brown swore that II he couldn't
| get back his men, or get the dogs or justice to
! even bark at the kings. he at least would pay
| them no blood money for new crew. So he
| went to another port and brought new crew to
| Irvington by steamer. His bark was hauled out
| into the stream and her crew kept close in her
| forecastle That night she was boarded by
| masked men, who swept her new crew over the
| bows into the stream, Gossip had II that some
| Of them were drowned Captain Brown gave up
| and paid the Sherman boys $75 instead of $50
| each for crew, and put to sea In a hurry
| They're bleedin' swine, but they're kings of