The Railroad King's Secret: Kahn Reveals the 'Scoop' Behind Seattle's Next Big Line
In a rare interview on his birthday, Democratic committee member Joe Kahn spills the beans on the Northern Pacific’s expansion plans and hints at a massive political scandal involving President Harrison.
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.
Hon. Joe Kahn, railroad president, lawyer, and politician, was joyfully engaged in distributing addresses to the faithful of the Democratic Party when our reporter called to interview him regarding railroad matters. After all were fed and Mr. Kahn was at leisure, he replied to the question about an editorial in a morning paper saying the Northern Pacific company will bar the Port Townsend Southern from the state west of it.
"That is all there is to it?" I asked. "That are you would imply that this passage is so narrow as to only admit of one railroad passing through? Why, there is room for a hundred tracks there side by side. Moreover, this new company don't propose to move more than 5 miles of road, for long years to come. Capt. Cowan and the other incorporators own lots of timber through this belt, and it will pay them to build a road to get it out. That is all there is to it."
"How is the Northern coming along?"
"As well as could be expected. The surveyors are busy at work and the road will be pushed to completion as fast as human effort will permit. I am writing a letter now to Charles Francis Adams, president of the Union Pacific, in regard to it, the contents of which will be an eye-opener to the public if I were at liberty to reveal the same."
Mr. Kahn is the Washington territory member of the National Democratic committee, and as he finished on railroad topics he reached down into his desk and pulled out a miniature picture of a Chinaman, and continued: "Do you know what this is for?" Upon being answered in the negative he went on, a merry twinkle beginning in his dark eye: "I am going to send that on A. P. Gorman, who will have a million of them struck off and sent round the country as Harrison campaign buttons. They will be labelled 'Tippecanoe and Chinese, too.' And that a dandy scheme, eh? I don't suppose the Republicans will care to polish this, but if you can revel in the beauties of a scoop, for I haven't given it away to any one else."
Joe Kahn was a pivotal figure in Seattle's early infrastructure, helping to secure the Northern Pacific terminus here rather than Tacoma. This interview captures the raw, unfiltered nature of Gilded Age politics, where railroad barons and party bosses operated with little transparency. The 'Tippecanoe and Tyler too' slogan reference highlights how local political maneuvering was deeply entangled with national presidential campaigns, a dynamic that still echoes in modern debates over infrastructure funding and political influence.
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