The Midnight Fire at the Mechanics' Mill
A disastrous blaze wipes out the Mechanics' Mill Company in Seattle, leaving laborers and owners alike ruined just before Christmas.
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 fire which destroyed the Mechanics' Mill and several surrounding buildings was discovered by the watchman about 1:30 a.m. yesterday. Charles McCarty, who was sleeping near the spot, stated he was going to bed when an oil lamp exploded in his hand, setting the place on fire. He threw his coat on it, but it would not be extinguished, and he fled for his life as the flames followed him out the front door. He lost everything he had, including his coat and shoes. The total loss will amount to between forty and fifty thousand dollars, on which there was very little insurance. The Mechanics' Mill Company, of which I. B. Haughton, J. A. Bigelow, I. H. Bigelow, D. E. Bigelow, and H. V. Macomb were members, lost the entire mill; their loss in machinery and stock will reach $10,000. Lowman & Hanford had a boiler and engine stored in the mill, which was destroyed. The Puget Sound Hide Company lost a large quantity of hides in the process of curing, variously estimated at from $700 to $1,000.
“Chas. McCarty... was going to bed when an oil lamp exploded in his hand, setting the place on fire... He lost everything he had.”
In 1887, a lack of fire safety and minimal insurance protections left workers like Charles McCarty facing total destitution, echoing modern anxieties about the precariousness of livelihoods in a city where industrial spaces are rapidly shifting. Just as this mill burned, Seattle continues to grapple with the vulnerability of its historic commercial districts to fire and rapid redevelopment.
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