One volume records pay to deck hands and other workers on the river schooner "Mabel and Edith." This vessel shipped freight for the Southern Pacific and other railroads. Receipts are signed by the shipmaster George Franklin Whitcomb, San Francisco. Information includes date, employee name, rate of pay, length of service, and the signature of the payee.

Until the completion of comprehensive railroad connections, small maritime vessels carried freight and passenger traffic along California's inland waterways. The "Mabel and Edith" was one such watercraft.

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