Diving for the Lost Safe of the Northern Pacific
A salvage operation is underway in Tacoma harbor to recover a sunken safe containing $14,000 in cash and documents.
A steam pump was put to work today removing the two feet of mud on top of what is supposed to be the Northern Pacific freight office safe, at the bottom of the harbor. When this work is completed a diver will go down after the receptacle of valuables. It contains about $14,000 worth of cash and papers.
“A steam pump was put to work today removing the two feet of mud on top of what is supposed to be the Northern Pacific freight office safe.”
The industrial history of the Puget Sound is literally buried in its silt. While modern salvage would use sonar and ROVs, the 1895 effort to recover a company safe from the harbor floor highlights the precarious nature of early maritime commerce and the high stakes of losing corporate records to the tide.
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