Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1910-06-10

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
cifc coast, were of another type They dealt in
men wholesale, shipped entire crews Their
boarding houses were licensed by the govern
ment Captains barganed with them openly.
The shipping commissioner of the port winked
at their devious ways A crowd of thugs, run
ners and hangers-on served them and thrived by
their favor. They were men of substance and
owned or controlled part of their business ev-
cry saloon, dance hall and resort in the crooked
streets and dark alleys about the wharves. Upper
Iryington drew deadlne about the waterfront
and seldom ventured it outside of business
hours Jack and Pete Sherman kings of
lryington's sailortown.
Every autumn saw a big fleet of wind JAM
mers"-ships of 1000 to 5000 tons register-lying
Off lrvngton. The wheat of the northwest
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
IrVington stirred itself. sailortown reused to
vicious life and the saortown kings reaped
harvest of blood money.
No captain shipped crew from Irvington I'M
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
lrvington for cargo at time when ships were
plenty and men hard to get He
cerned for his men had been shipped in England
and would not be discharged until the home port
was reached. Captains of deep-aden vessels ly-
ing in the stream eyed the Carmarthaenshire's
enyiousy Jack Sherman quietly sent a
two aboard the ''limejuicer" to visit and
smuggle in forbidden whisky. BY twos and
three5 Captain Browns crew left him and
hidden about sailortown. The Irvington police
asked to bring them back but however hard
they looked for deserters they didn't find any.
Then dark night the rest of the crew van.
shed over the side, to the last man, after knock
ing the breath out of Captain Brown and tricing
the mate up to the main fiferail. And before the
astonished captain could recover breath enough
to for "law" Jack and Pete Sherman had his
men shipped in of the waiting vessels and
away. Next day the captain 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 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
deserters that he knew of.
But Captain Brown swore that If 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 blood money for a crew. So he
went to another port and brought new crew to
Irvington by steamer. His bark hauled out
into the stream and her crew kept close in her
forecastle. That night she was boarded by
masked men. who swept her the
bows into the stream. Gossip had It that some
Of them drowned. Captain Brown gave up
and paid the Sherman boys $75 instead of $50
each for crew and put to sea in hurry
They're fec1in swine. but they're kings of