The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1910-06-03

be paid out Of the debtors hide" or his wages
Boarding masters of this class were petty ras
Gals. They dealt in men at retail. The brothers
John and Peter Sherman Of Irvington, on the Pa
CHIC 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 hangers-on served them and thrived by
their favor. They were 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 it outside of business
hours. Jack and Pete Sherman were kings of
1rvfngton's sailortown.
Every autumn saw big feet of wind Jam.
mers"-ships Of 1000 to 5000 tons regster-lyng
off Irvington. The wheat of the new northwest
was in their holds, consigned to ports in Europe
or India by way Of the sx,months' journey
round the Horn. The wheat fleet, Iryington
called it, and when the wheat fleet came, upper
lryington stirred itself, saortown reused to
vicious life and the sailortown kings reaped
harvest of blood money.
No captain shipped crew from Irvington 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
lrVlngton for cargo at time when ships were
plenty and men hard to get. He was uncon-
cerned, for his men had been shipped In England
and would not be discharged until the home port
was reached. Captains of deep-laden vessels ly-
ing In the stream eyed the Carmarthaenshire's
crew enviously. Jack Sherman quietly sent
man or two aboard the "limejuicer" to visit and
smuggle in forbidden whisky. By twos and
threes Captain Browns crew left him and were
hidden about sailortown. The Irvington 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 tricng
the mate up to the main fiferail. And before the
astonished captain could recover breath enough
to roar for "law" 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-
lice, who were sympathetic but helpless. Nobody
could be found to even hint that the kings had
any hand in the affair and the shipping commits
sioner's records were clear. He had shipped no
deserters that he knew Of
But Captain Brown swore that IL he couldn't
get back his men, or get the dogs Of 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 it that some
OF them were drowned Captain Brown gave up
and paid the Sherman boys SIS instead of $50
each for crew, and put to sea in hurry
They're bleedin' swine, but they're kings of