Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1910-06-04

be paid of the debtors hide" or his wages.
Boarding masters of this class were petty ras-
Gals They dealt i'll at retail The brothers
John and Peter Sherman. of Irvington the Pa
cific coast, were of another type They dealt in
men wholesale, shipped entire Their
boarding houses licensed by the govern
ment. Captains bargained with them openly.
The shipping commissioner of the port winked
at their devious ways. crowd of thugs,
their favor They were of substance and
owned or controlled part of their business
cry saloon, dance hall and resort in the crooked
streets and dark alleys about the wharves. Upper
Irvington drew a deadline about the waterfront
and seldom ventured it outside of business
hours. Jack and Pete Sherman kings of
Irvingtons sailortown.
Every autumn saw big fleet of wind JAM
mers"-ships of 1000 to 5000 tons register-lying
was in their holds. consigned to ports in Europe
or India, by way of the six-months' journey
round the Horn The wheat feet, Irvington
called 1t, and when the wheat fleet came, upper
1rvington stirred itself, sailortown reused to
vicious life. and the sailortown kings reaped
harvest of blood money.
No captain shipped from Irvington
til 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 a time when ships were
plenty and men hard to get. He uncon-
cerncd, 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 OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
crew obviously. Jack Sherman quietly sent a
smuggle in forbidden whisky. BY twos and
threes Captain Browns 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 tricing
the mate up to the main fferail. And before the
astonished captain could recover breath enough
to roar for law" Jack and Pete Sherman had his
men shipped in of the waiting vessels and
away. Next day the captain waited 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
| lice. who were sympathetic but helpless Nobody
| could be found to 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 IL he couldn't
| get back his get the dogs of justice to
/ bark at the kings, he at least would pay
/ them blood money for new crew So he
went another port and brought crew to
Irvngton by steamer His bark hauled out
1 into the stream and her crew kept close in her
/ forecastle- That night she boarded by
/ masked men, who swept her new crew over the
bows into the stream. Gossip had it that some
4 of them drowned. Captain Brown gave up
and paid the Sherman boys SIS instead of $50
each for crew. and put to in hurry
They're bleedin' swine. but they're kings OF