❖ HOUSE MOVING THROUGH THE BALLARD LOCKS ❖

Ferry Boatmen's Strike––
This homeowner was packing up and moving on.
Frank Fletcher on the move for fear of another
upset of ferry service and increased fares.
Bainbridge Island was in his wake.
Original photo dated 11 July 1937
From the archives of the Saltwater People Log©

Frank Fletcher, an insurance man, decided to move. Not only his household belongings but his house as well. Placing the five-room cottage on a large barge, Fletcher had it carried from his former location on Bainbridge Island, across Puget Sound, and thru the Lake Washington Ship Canal Locks, to a new site on the shores of Lake Washington. 
      Ten years later–––

Ferry Tie-Up, March 1947.
This team was moving goods in the
opposite direction from Mr. Fletcher's experience.
As viewed in top photo.
Doc Freeman & Russ Gibson to the
rescue for the readers of the Times, with 
 M.V. SPEEDER.
Click image to enlarge.
Original photo from the archives
of the Saltwater People Log©

"Despite the ferry tie-up for several days, persons living in island communities isolated by the strike-bound ferries still received their editions of the Seattle Times. In a few instances, the paper maybe has been delivered an hour or two later than usual, but––they got the paper. 
      This was due, in large part, to the cooperation and seamanship of O. H. 'Doc' Freeman and Russ Gibson, operators of charter service and owners of the 80-ft SPEEDER, with which they literally "delivered the mail" for the Times. 
      Both are old hands at helping out when ferry schedules are disrupted or other water transportation is tied up.
      'This is the fourth time we have delivered the Times,' Freeman recalled today. 'The first time was during the first ferry strike in '35. The next time was '37 and then '39. Now this time. We're getting used to it.'
      After loading the bundles of newspapers onto their boat at the float at the foot of Washington Street, the men deliver their cargo at Bremerton, Bainbridge, and Vashon Islands, where trucks and cars pick up the bundles of newspapers and distribute them to subscribers from Gig Harbor north to Port Angeles.
      Freeman, Gibson, and Ray Strickler, skipper of the SPEEDER, make two trips on Saturday. The last beginning at about midnight guarantees that island residents will have the latest possible edition when they open their copy on Sunday morning.
      Navy authorities were particularly helpful during the present emergency. At Fort Ward, the Navy installation on Bainbridge Island, the SPEEDER was allowed to unload its cargo at the Navy float for the convenience of island residents.
      'Everybody wants his paper,' reported Freeman. 'Whenever we approach a dock, there are always at least a dozen or more people waiting. The newspaper apparently is the thing they miss most."
The text for the bottom article is from The Seattle-Times 18 Mar 1947. No byline.