The Fanny Lake Burns to the Waterline
A Seattle jobbing steamer meets a mysterious end in Sullivan's Slough, marking the third local boat lost to fire in two months.
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.
For the third time within two months, one of Seattle's jobbing steamers went up in flames yesterday morning. This time it was the Fanny Lake, which was burned to the water's edge in Sullivan's Slough, La Conner. The boat, under command of Capt. Alex Wood, had taken twenty-five tons of hay on board and was waiting for the tide. At 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, the watchman, Gus Lind, saw a bright flame amidships. The flames spread so rapidly that the crew barely had time to escape; the cook was forced to jump overboard without his clothes. The vessel, owned by the Produce Transportation Company of Seattle, was a total loss of about $5,000, though it was partially insured. The cause of the fire remains a mystery, much like the recent losses of the E. W. Purdy and the J. H. McDonald.
“The cause of the fire is as much of a mystery as it was on the E. W. Purdy or the J. H. McDonald.”
The recurring loss of commercial vessels in late 19th-century Seattle highlights the volatility of early maritime logistics, where ships were the primary lifelines for cargo. Today, the names of these 'jobbing steamers' are largely forgotten, though the harbor remains a critical, albeit modern, node for regional freight.
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