Seattle Rallies for the Franklin Mine's Widows and Orphans
A newspaper fund drive, a Madison Park benefit and Black community organizers push relief past $275 for the families of miners killed in the Franklin disaster.
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.
Fund for the relief of the widows and orphans of the miners killed in the disaster at the Franklin mine:
Previously reported $230.00 M. Levy & Co. 5.00 Cash, little boy 1.00 John W. Pratt, Press-Times 10.00 William Cochrane 20.00 Puget Sound Saw Works 10.00 Mrs. A. Simpson 1.00
[Total] $275.00
The fund for the relief of the Franklin widows and orphans continues to grow and now foots up $275. It should be larger, and will be when the public fully realizes the need of help. There are sixteen widows and forty-eight children, besides numerous dependent relatives, such as aged fathers and mothers and young brothers and sisters, who have been rendered helpless by this sudden and awful disaster. This is a case of sudden distress which appeals to the charitable. All who can afford it should give freely and quickly. Nearly all these helpless people are left without any means and are in sore need, and they should be helped until they can devise ways and means for helping themselves. They are at present dazed by the calamity that has befallen them and in this their hour of sorrow a little sympathy and help will be like a little sunshine in a cloudy day. Seattle has never failed to respond to a cry for help whether it came from near or far, and here is an accident that happens almost within our gates, and the people of Seattle and vicinity should not be deaf to it.
William Cochrane, the ex-sheriff, called at the Post-Intelligencer office yesterday and left $20. He said if provisions were wanted the committee should notify him and he would try to do something toward supplying some.
From Tuesday till Monday next, inclusive, the receipts of the performances given by Bruns and Nina at the Madison Park pavilion will be used to swell the Post-Intelligencer fund. During that period 10 cents will be charged for admission.
The Knights of Pythias lodges of this city have wired their sympathy to the Franklin lodge and have offered aid. Doubtless the Knights of Pythias lodges throughout the state in conjunction with those of Seattle will create a fund for the use of the widows and orphans of the Knights killed in the disaster.
J. K. Hawkins wishes it understood that the subscriptions he asks for are intended for the benefit of any and all of those who are left in need by the disaster. He purposes circulating subscription papers among the colored people, as they can be better reached in that way, especially those who can only contribute small sums. All the funds collected by him will be added to the Post-Intelligencer fund and acknowledged daily.
A meeting of colored people will be held in the city hall at 8 o'clock this evening to appoint a committee to solicit subscriptions. The money so collected will be turned into the Post-Intelligencer fund.
“Seattle has never failed to respond to a cry for help whether it came from near or far, and here is an accident that happens almost within our gates.”
The 1894 Franklin mine explosion killed dozens and left sixteen widows and forty-eight children; this relief drive shows how Gilded Age Seattle patched a minimal safety net with newspaper charity, fraternal lodges and Black community organizing. The same mutual-aid impulse reappears after disasters today, and so do the questions of who is counted and how quickly help arrives.
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