The Ghost on Pacific Avenue
Tacoma’s hack drivers are convinced a local man is a walking curse after a series of strange carriage wrecks.
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.
A characteristic which predominates among Tacoma hack drivers is superstition. In fact, it is rare that a hack driver is found who is not just a little superstitious, but in Tacoma it is more noticeable. Last night as the carriages were lined up along the curb on Pacific avenue between Tenth and Eleventh streets, a small bearded man walked up the street. The hackmen were standing about the cigar stands and against the buildings, waiting for a load. Suddenly there was a scramble for the hacks. They all ran to the doors of their carriages and then again one by one they returned to their positions. As the little man with the iron gray beard passed a hack, the driver would leave the door, but he was careful not to allow the man to go between him and his team. One driver, known as 'Mack,' explained: 'This man is locoed. That is, he is a hoodoo. He went between one of the boys and his hack not long ago and inside of ten minutes a runaway came down the street and smashed the hack into kindling wood. He went between another fellow and his hack and he didn't get a load for three nights. There may be nothing to it, but you bet none of the boys will take a chance on getting hoodooed.'
“There isn't a cabby in the line who would let that man go between his hack and himself for a fiver.”
While we rely on GPS and apps today, turn-of-the-century Tacoma relied on folklore and omens to navigate the dangers of a busy downtown. This story captures the precarious, superstitious life of the laboring class who worked the streets when transit was still pulled by horses.
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