City Left in Dark After Gas Tank Explosion
A major receiving tank failure leaves Tacoma without illuminating gas, forcing citizens and local businesses to scramble for alternatives.
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 big receiving tank of the gas company exploded Saturday night at 9:30, leaving the city entirely without illuminating gas. The company has only an inferior little emergency tank and was absolutely unable to cope with the accident. Since the explosion, the gas company has had a gang of workmen busy, but there was little improvement in the gas today and citizens were complaining on all sides. At the city hall, many disgusted gas users appeared, making application for electric light. Newspapers were perhaps the heaviest sufferers owing to the gas company's lack of an emergency plant. The typesetting machines, which operate with gas burners, were all tied up until oil burners could be installed.
“The company has only an inferior little emergency tank and was absolutely unable to cope with the accident.”
This 1909 crisis over fragile utility infrastructure predates the city's transition to public power. It highlights the vulnerability of early urban development when private monopolies failed to maintain basic service redundancies.
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