The Crumbling Tenement on Second and Main
A concerned citizen demands the city inspect a dangerous building teeming with residents and home to a rowdy saloon.
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.
What is the matter with the board of public works? What are the duties of the inspector of public buildings? These questions suggest themselves to anyone who will stand on the northwest corner of South Second and Main streets and take a look at the building situated on the southwest corner. It does not require a critical examination to convince anybody that the building is highly unsafe. The walls appear as though they were about to crash into the street. The chief of police knows the state of this building, and has on more than one occasion declared it unsafe, and has so informed the board of public works. I learn that the upper floors have more than 100 inmates; the lower portion is occupied by what is called the Mug saloon, and large numbers of men pass in and out at all hours of the day and night. It will readily be seen that should the building collapse, the loss of life would be very great. In that event, let me ask the honorable board of public works and the building inspector: would the public hold you guiltless?
“The walls appear as though they were about to crash into the street.”
The precarious intersection of 2nd and Main (now near the heart of Pioneer Square) reflects a classic Seattle tension: the safety of aging, dense tenements versus the economic reality of the neighborhood's low-income residents and nightlife. This letter highlights the same accountability gap that city residents often cite today when debating building codes and landlord negligence.
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