may 2, 1849 - Ship Black Hole

Description:

During the spring and summer of 1849, California resembled what physicists of a later generation would call a black hole; in this case ships (rather than light) went into the harbor of San Francisco but didn’t come out.

Between the low pay and the grim conditions, it was no wonder owners had trouble filling out their crews, and hardly less wonder they relied on “crimps”: human scavengers of the waterfront who cajoled, coerced, or drugged and dragged unsuspecting and unwilling victims aboard just in time for sailing. When the victims awoke, they were at sea, beyond the reach of any law but the captain’s.

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