The Water Works Betrayal
Tacoma citizens feel duped after voting for a massive bond issue to purchase a water plant under the false promise of a new railroad to Mount Rainier.
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.
Some people are in the right mood to infer that C. B. Wright has been 'calling himself names.' There was a sentence omitted from the extract of his letter to Capt. Knell, of this city, published in the Post-Intelligencer several weeks ago, in which he went on record as saying it would be 'lunacy' to think of building the proposed railroad from Tacoma toward the mountains. The pledges made by his agents that this road would be built, and that 'dirt would fly inside of sixty days' from the date of the purchase of the water plant, was the most potent factor in unloading the property upon the city. And now for Mr. Wright to state that it would be 'lunacy' to push the work causes most folks to accuse him of smirching his own alleged promises. The Tacoma Chamber of Commerce is now being urged to demand that the Tacoma Land Company, its president, C. B. Wright of Philadelphia, and its manager, Isaac W. Anderson, redeem the promises that emanated from that company through its officers, attorneys, and employees.
“The pledges made by his agents that this road would be built, and that 'dirt would fly inside of sixty days' from the date of the purchase of the water plant, was the most potent factor in unloading the property upon the city.”
This 1894 standoff over the 'water ghost' and public infrastructure mirrors contemporary Seattle's frustration with developers who promise public amenities or transit improvements in exchange for zoning and bond support, only to stall once the civic deal is sealed. The struggle over who holds the keys to public utilities remains a central, unresolved argument in Washington's growth machine.
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