Fatal Blasting Accident Near the South School
A laborer, recently arrived in Seattle, is killed instantly while attempting to clear a stubborn charge at a construction site.
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.
Mike Kelly, a laborer employed by Ritchie & Co. on their grading contract on Box street near the site of the South school building, was killed last evening about 6 o'clock. Kelly was ordered by Mr. Ritchie, the contractor, to light a blast of powder, which had been placed in the hard bank, and which had twice been lighted and refused to explode. Kelly approached the spot, but at the very instant he stooped to apply the match there was a tremendous explosion. Kelly was hurled about 100 feet through the air and fell on his back. His fellow workmen ran to the spot where he fell, but the poor fellow only lived about a minute. Blood was pouring from his mouth and ears. Mr. Ritchie immediately sent to the city for a carriage to convey the body, and Officer Butterfield and Mr. Cross were soon on the spot and brought the remains to the city. Kelly sustained frightful injuries; both his legs and arms and neck were broken. Kelly came to the city about six weeks ago from San Francisco. For a time he worked as a stevedore on the Ocean dock, but about three weeks ago he was employed by Mr. Ritchie. When in Seattle he stopped with Mr. O'Hara, who keeps a saloon on Washington street. Kelly is well spoken of by those who knew him. He has no friends and will probably be buried by Mr. Ritchie. Deceased was 30 years of age.
“Kelly was hurled about 100 feet through the air and fell on his back. His fellow workmen ran to the spot where he fell, but the poor fellow only lived about a minute.”
Workplace safety in Seattle’s early grading era was notoriously lax, a precursor to the modern labor movement's push for site regulation. The construction site mentioned, near the South School (the original Denny School or similar early public structures), highlights the constant, dangerous reshuffling of Seattle's hills and landscape that defined the city's early development.
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