Seattle Gas Works Sold for $630,000
A syndicate of Seattle and St. Paul investors has purchased the city's primary gas supplier, with plans for expansion and modernization.
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.
All the stock of the Seattle Gas, Electric Light and Motor Company has been sold to a syndicate composed of Seattle and St. Paul men. The corporation, known as the Gas Company, owns the plant on Jackson Street that provides the city's gas. Despite the ambitious name, the company has not yet branched into electric light or power. The principal stockholders who sold their interests included John Collins, Dexter Horton, A. A. Denny, Mrs. Mary Gaffney, and Mrs. Elizabeth J. Sackman. The total purchase price was $630,000. Lester Turner, representing the Seattle interest, stated that a new company will be organized to significantly improve and enlarge the plant, though control will remain in Seattle.
“Though St. Paul men would be in the company, the control of the organization would remain in Seattle.”
The sale of local utility infrastructure to out-of-town syndicates was a defining feature of Seattle’s Gilded Age growth. Today, the tension between local control of utilities and regional private consolidation remains a persistent civic debate.
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