Explosives Blast Seattle's Waterways Clear
A dangerous snag, responsible for over $4,000 in damages to loggers, is finally demolished above the old Packard wharf.
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.
The work of blasting snags out of the river is progressing finely, some of the worst in the river having been blown into kingdom come last week and the first part of this. Yesterday, while watching the preparations for blasting an old terror to loggers whose habitant was just above the old Packard wharf, and in conversation with a prominent logger, he said, pointing to the snag on which Mr. Hedges' men were at work: 'That snag has cost the logging fraternity over four thousand dollars.' In a little while there was a sudden jar, as if something had let go, a jet of foam ascended heavenward, and when the commotion had subsided that snag existed only in imagination. The good that will result from this work cannot be estimated. We will not complain of its not having been done sooner, seeing it is now being done so well.
“That snag has cost the logging fraternity over four thousand dollars.”
Clearing the Duwamish River of industrial hazards was a high-stakes civic priority in 1883, directly impacting the timber industry. Today, the river remains a focal point for massive civic infrastructure debates, though the focus has shifted from navigating log jams to Superfund-level environmental remediation.
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