The Horseless City
Seattle businessmen begin the race to bring the 'new motor machines' to the city's steep streets.
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.
Within the past two weeks, numerous inquiries have been made of dealers in carriages and of agents for Eastern manufacturing concerns regarding the new automobiles which have suddenly attracted so much attention in the Atlantic states. There are a number of citizens in Seattle who are contemplating trials of the motor carriages and trucks, provided that their preliminary inquiries prove satisfactory. Mr. D. H. Bowman, representing the local Studebaker concern, said: 'The automobile will certainly come into use in Seattle very soon. I have just written to Studebaker for full information concerning the various kinds of automobiles, and as soon as the information arrives, I will be in a position to answer the frequent questions that have been asked of late and to quote rates upon the new horseless wagons. In fact, I may get an automobile for my own use as soon as one can be furnished me, to make practical tests of its utility upon the hilly streets of this town.' Mr. R. J. Reekie, of the Seattle Transfer company, had some definite ideas on the question of the use of automobiles in Seattle. 'They are bound to come,' said he, 'and I think within two years they will be used exclusively here.'
“The automobile will certainly come into use in Seattle very soon. I may get an automobile for my own use as soon as one can be furnished me, to make practical tests of its utility upon the hilly streets of this town.”
In 1899, Seattle was debating whether the automobile could handle its legendary hills. Today, the city is embroiled in a similar debate over whether the streets can (or should) accommodate the scale of modern traffic, mirroring the early 20th-century transition from horse-drawn carriages to the motor age.
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