Sabotage on the Coal Line
A dangerous attempt to derail a coal train near Seattle highlights the intense tensions surrounding the city's burgeoning industrial infrastructure.
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.
Some infernal scoundrel or scoundrels made a diabolical attempt to wreck one of the coal trains on the railroad last evening, which came near being successful. A rail was fastened in the track, end on, with one end projecting upwards, and the whole covered with a small amount of brush to create the impression that it was a harmless lot of rubbish on the track between Renton and Newcastle. The engineer of the 'Bodie,' coming down with a full train of local cars, noticed the brush and suspecting something wrong, immediately reversed the engine, but could not entirely stop her. She came on slowly and struck the rail, which passed through her headlight, which was carried on the pilot, and stopped short within two inches of the boiler head. Had it penetrated the boiler it might have caused the death of both the engineer and fireman, and it was a close call. This is not the first attempt of the kind that has been made. Obstructions of various kinds, steel and large rocks, have been placed upon the track before, but have resulted in no damage.
“Some infernal scoundrel or scoundrels made a diabolical attempt to wreck one of the coal trains on the railroad last evening.”
The struggle between industrial expansion and sabotage echoes the ongoing friction in modern Seattle as the city grapples with the pressures of rapid growth, transit infrastructure, and the human cost of rapid development.
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