City Hall Shaken by Earthquake
Tacoma’s council meeting was thrown into disarray when an earthquake tremor sent officials scrambling for composure.
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 deliberations of the city fathers were interrupted and their nerves slightly unstrung by the earthquake shocks which visited this section last night. The councilmen were listening attentively to a big batch of resolutions which Clerk Woodruff was reading, when the floor of the council chamber began to tremble, and in a few seconds the entire building seemed to sway like a ship at sea. President Jones took a firm grip on the sides of his chair, as if he intended to keep his seat at all hazards. Councilman Conrad's hair stood on end, Councilman Deuval made a move as if to throw his arms around one of the big fellows, and Councilman Hammond's eyes stuck out like a couple of peeled onions. About the only man in the room who didn't move was Councilman Bellingham. He simply leaned back in his chair and held his breath. The trouble was all over in a few seconds, but a spirit of unrest pervaded the council chamber during the remainder of the evening.
“The floor of the council chamber began to tremble, and in a few seconds the entire building seemed to sway like a ship at sea.”
Tacoma remains seismically active, and the 1904 account of a council meeting interrupted by a quake serves as a reminder of the region's shared geological reality. While the old City Hall structure eventually vanished, the vulnerability of civic government to the natural forces of the Pacific Northwest persists as a quiet, subterranean constant.
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