A Day of Mayhem at City Hall
A Seattle newspaper recounts a chaotic Tuesday for the city's 'reform administration' involving a runaway engine, a fired official, and a physical assault on an editor.
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.
Yesterday was an even more exciting day than usual for the 'reform administration.' The city's engine was dumped into the bay; another attack was made by the board of public works upon the ex-superintendent of water works; and an official of the city attempted to cudgel an editor who had presumed to criticize his official acts. The deputy comptroller, however, can claim the credit of an innovation. He has practically served notice that hereafter the bludgeon is to be the argument used to refute criticisms against public officials of the city. This innovation, however, is liable to be attended with some danger. Mr. Blakistone himself, in introducing the innovation, ran the risk of being shot and killed like a mad dog by the editor of the Press-Times, whom he assaulted, and if he had been killed the law would have recognized it as justifiable homicide.
“The deputy comptroller, however, can claim the credit of an innovation. He has practically served notice that hereafter the bludgeon is to be the argument used to refute criticisms against public officials of the city.”
The aggressive posture of public officials toward the press is a perennial friction in Seattle politics. This 1893 report captures a moment when the city's 'reform' government was characterized by as much infighting and physical instability as the private sectors they governed.
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