The Beacon Hill Sewer Scandal
A taxpayer alleges that City Engineer Thomson’s engineering choices were costly, unskillful, and a 'woeful piece of folly.'
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, N. Boyle, who describes himself as a citizen and taxpayer, filed typewritten charges with the board of public works against City Engineer Thomson. Boyle alleges that Thomson changed the location of a shaft on Beacon Hill, costing the city $75; that the woodwork of the hoisting machinery was unskillfully made; that he is building a shaft at the south sewer tunnel which Mr. Boyle considers a 'woeful piece of folly'; that he employed unnecessary help to test cement; that he built sixteen cars and they were then found to be too large; that he constructed an incline at the foot of Depot street where a driveway should have been built; and that he ordered 750 sets of slant seats, which are useless. The complaint, which bears evidence of having been drafted by a lawyer, concludes with a request for a hearing and for the suspension of Thomson. The document was filed at 4 o'clock last night.
“A 'woeful piece of folly.'”
City infrastructure projects have been lightning rods for civic grievance in Seattle for over a century. The specific accusations of wasted funds and poor engineering on Beacon Hill reflect an era when the city’s rapid expansion often outpaced its administrative capacity to oversee massive civil works.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.