Tugboat Crashes into Merchants' Wharf
A mechanical failure sends a tug steaming into the trestle, scalding a cook and shaking the vessel to its bones.
The tug J. K. Boyden crashed into the railroad trestle while making a landing at the Merchants' wharf last evening, and the jar broke a steam pipe, letting the steam escape, so that the whole boat was enveloped in the hot vapor in an instant. A Chinese cook, who was in the galley at the time, was considerably scalded about the back and hands. The accident was caused by the key in the reversing gear dropping out, and when the captain gave the signal to reverse, as the boat came up to the wharf under a slow bell, the engineer found it impossible to reverse her. He informed the captain, and a headline was run out and made fast to the wharf. This checked, but failed to hold her, and she struck the trestle with such force that her mast was splintered and her whole house shook like a leaf. Some of the crew was injured, aside from the Chinese cook, and his injuries, though painful, did not seem to be very serious. Aside from the breaking of the steam pipe and mast, the boat was not damaged, but her whole house would probably have been smashed in if it had not been for the headline checking her speed.
“The jar broke a steam pipe, letting the steam escape, so that the whole boat was enveloped in the hot vapor in an instant.”
Accidents along Seattle's industrial waterfront were common in the 1890s as steam-powered vessels jockeyed for space at crowded wharves. Today, the Merchants' Wharf area has been largely redeveloped into the bustling commercial and tourist corridors of the downtown waterfront.
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