The Great Sewer Brawl of Washington Street
A minor street scuffle turned into an unintended construction project when a crowd of onlookers broke through the sidewalk into the city sewer.
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 rough and tumble took place yesterday on Washington street, near Commercial, and while one of the combatants had the other down dealing him some heavy blows and a great crowd had thronged about the sidewalk, they broke through the soil into the sewer. The sudden shock appears to have quieted the combatants. No arrests were made.
“A rough and tumble took place... and while one of the combatants had the other down... they broke through the soil into the sewer.”
A century and a half later, Seattle still contends with the precarious nature of its infrastructure. While today's struggles often involve debate over modernizing our aging sewer and tunnel systems, it seems the city's relationship with its sidewalk integrity has always been a bit tenuous.
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