Granddad's Letters from 1934

Ok, so I'm not much of a blogger. Blogger=writer. I never "liked" to write. But you feel good after its all finished-kind of like housework (which I REALLY hate!) Can't really update on everything--just say I get tired of seeing "Nina's Notes" as a bookmark on my computer and I never do anything with it. So....... I think I'll post what I've learned about my Granddad. Granddad is George Leon Eldredge, Sr. born 1899 and died in 1979. He was my mother's father.  It was months ago (more like a few years!) that I found these letters but they are most interesting and worthy of a "Note".  These are the letters he wrote when he was sailing as a purser, during the Great Depression and Maritime Strikes.

2nd Letter

Shipping is a lonely life.

This letter is just a quick hi from Grandad to his family but noting

the dates of the letter, envelope and his location along with some
history of the time tells a very interesting story. Its great that he
used the Steamship's stationary.





The last and third letter.

The envelope and some pictures to go with the letter.

To fully appreciate this letter and my Granddads words "glad to be away from California now" you have to understand some history.

Information about the Dollar Steamship (SS) Lines and Maritime Strike

http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/dollar.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1934_West_Coast_waterfront_strike

Granddad’s letter is dated July 5th and the above website says this: “it took five days for the San

Francisco to Honolulu and a further nine days on to Yokohama.” So the ship must have left San

Fransicso June 30th or so. Granddad left San Francisco just as the picketing and striking was peaking.

His letter is dated the same day that 2 strikers were killed in San Francisco by police and that day

became known as “Bloody Thursday”. His sentence that says he was glad to be away from California

now, takes on significant meaning.

From website

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1934_West_Coast_waterfront_strike

The strike began on May 9, 1934 as longshoremen in every West Coast port walked out; sailors joined them several days later. The employers recruited strikebreakers, housing them on moored ships or in walled compounds and bringing them to and from work under police protection. Strikers attacked the stockade housing strikebreakers in San Pedro on May 15; two strikers were shot and killed by the employers' private guards. Similar battles broke out in San Francisco and Oakland, California, Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington. Strikers also succeeded in slowing down or stopping the movement of goods by rail out of the ports.The Roosevelt administration tried again to broker a deal to end the strike, but the membership twice rejected the agreements their leadership brought to them. The employers then decided to make a show of force to reopen the port in San Francisco. On Tuesday, July 3, fights broke out along the Embarcadero in San Francisco between police and strikers while a handful of trucks driven by young businessmen made it through the picket line.Some Teamsters supported the strikers by refusing to handle "hot cargo" - goods which had been unloaded by strikebreakers, although the Teamsters' leadership was not as supportive. By the end of May Dave Beck, president of the Seattle Teamsters, and Mike Casey, president of those in San Francisco, thought the maritime strike had lasted too long. They encouraged the strikers to take what they could get from the employers and threatened to use Teamsters as strikebreakers if the ILA didn't return to work.[1]

After a quiet Fourth of July the employers' organization, the Industrial Association, tried to open the port even further on Thursday, July 5. As spectators watched from Rincon Hill, the police shot tear gas canisters into the crowd, then followed with a charge by mounted police. Picketers threw the canisters and rocks back at the police, who charged again, sending the picketers into retreat after a third assault. Each side then refortified and took stock. Hostilities picked up again that afternoon, when a group of strikers surrounded a police car and attempted to tip it over. The police fired shotguns in the air, then fired their revolvers at the crowd. One of the policemen fired a shotgun into the crowd, killing a striking seaman and a strike sympathizer, Nicolas Bordoise and Howard Sperry. Strikers immediately cordoned off the area where two picketers had been shot, laying flowers and wreaths around it. Police arrived to remove the flowers and drive off the picketers minutes later. Once the police left, the strikers returned, replaced the flowers and stood guard over the spot. As strikers carried wounded picketers into the ILA union hall police fired on the hall and lobbed tear gas canisters at nearby hotels. At this point someone reportedly called the union hall to ask "Are you willing to arbitrate now?" Under orders from California Governor Frank Merriam, the California National Guard moved in that evening to patrol the waterfront. Similarly, federal soldiers of the United States Army stationed at the Presidio were placed on alert. The picketers pulled back, unwilling to take on armed soldiers in an uneven fight, and trucks and trains began moving without interference. Bridges asked the San Francisco Labor Council to meet that Saturday, July 7, to authorize a general strike. The Alameda County Central Labor Council in Oakland considered the same action. Teamsters in both San Francisco and Oakland voted to strike, over the objections of their leaders, on Sunday, July 8. 

SS Pres Cleveland was built in 1921. First called Golden State, 535 ft class built for US Shipping

Board, 1922 renamed President Cleveland, 1925 purchased by Dollar Line, 1938 transferred to APL,

1941 sold to US Navy renamed USS Tasker H. Bliss, 1942 sunk during invasion of North Africa.

For more information about the Maritime Strike:

http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist/thursday.html 

http://depts.washington.edu/pcls/documents/research/Kagel_1934Strike.pdf