An Unequal Clash 134 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord meeting on 7 June, #21 listened to the reading of a letter by the union chief urging them to not strike. The 15 June announcement that the union would not strike in solidarity further undermined the sailors' strike.58 The Lake Carriers' Livingstone proclaimed on 19 June that the association's members had 280 boats in commission, or slightly more than half of their overall tonnage, with the ability to bring more on-line.59 Though perhaps done for effect, it demonstrated the unified presence and confidence of the vessel owners. It also reflected the weak demand for cargo that further aided the association since many ships would have been laid up anyway. As a further tactic, the association utilized friendly local authorities to exert additional pressure on the strikers. Michael Casey, secretary of the water tenders union reported that in Buffalo: A seaman was arrested here yesterday. They pulled several saloons, about 100 in all. They appointed a committee of labour men last night to see the Mayor and Police commissioners today. Olander is here and him and Stack employed a Lawyer to defend them. There is someone behind this move to get our members a little discouraged and it should make them more determined, up to this writing a lot of them got discharged and they are getting desperate trying to scare the men out on strike.60 This combination of forces arrayed against them by the economy, the vessel owners, the media, local officials, and their fellow union members applied almost overwhelming pressure. As the strike continued through the summer, the lack of funds and shrinking memberships meant that union locals lost the leases to their social halls and became increasingly desperate from the lack of work. A Cleveland dock operative reported the growing problem outside of a saloon run by a former longshoreman fired for his union sympathies that had become the new base for union men.61 When three non-union sailors quit a boat and arrived at the saloon they received liquor and once intoxicated were ambushed outside the establishment. Enraged these men gathered other men and formed picket lines along the dock the following day and began to berate the longshoremen.62 Such incidents reflected the growing tensions between strikers and those who had opted to accept employment, and reports of fighting grew more common in the Ohio & Western Pennsylvania Dock Company's reports. Locals also served as enforcers of solidarity. The dock company's spy network reported that a local, having heard of a strikebreaking engineer, sought to learn the name. They sent the daughter of a member to peddle small items on board the 58 Operative Reports, 8 June 1909, Box 4, OWPDC-BGSU; "Longshoremen Will Not Strike," TB, 16 June 1909; Russell, 79-80. 59 "Lake Situation," TB, 15 June 1909; "All the Men They Can Use," DEH, 19 June 1909. 60 Michael Casey to Robert Clarke, 9 July 1909, Box 2, Folder: Correspondence, 1909, ISU- DPL. 61 Operative Report, 21 May 1909, Box 4, OWPDC-BGSU. 62 Operative Report, 12 June 1909, Box 4, OWPDC-BGSU.