Fire Shuts Down Hadlock Mill
A boiler room fire on a gravel foundation halts production at the Washington Mill Company, idling 100 men.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The Washington Mill Company, at Hadlock, has been, on average, sawing 150,000 feet of lumber per day, and employing about 100 men per day. The boiler department of this mill was built on a timber foundation covered with gravel. The woodwork caught on fire a few days ago, burning the timbers, which caused the boilers to settle two or three feet. This caused a lack of harmony in the machinery, and the mill is now shut down to undergo necessary repairs, which will require two or three weeks to complete. The foundation on which the boilers are to rest will be built of fire-proof brick.
“This caused a lack of harmony in the machinery, and the mill is now shut down to undergo necessary repairs.”
Industrial accidents in the 19th century were often caused by hasty, 'good-enough' construction, much like the infrastructure strain we see today. The shutdown of a local mill due to structural failure mirrors modern supply chain volatility and the constant battle to modernize aging industrial assets.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.