The Midnight Hazard on Front Street
A pedestrian falls into an open trench, highlighting the lack of basic safety measures in a growing, construction-heavy Seattle.
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.
Last night, the trench which had been dug during the day on Front street at the foot of Cherry for the water pipe, was left open with large sections of pipe scattered about, making a most complete man-trap. One unfortunate pedestrian who never learned the terrain in the dark, and who neglected, in his midnight tour, to carry a lantern with him, in attempting to cross the street stumbled over a piece of water pipe and fell into the trench. It is customary in all other towns, when such places must be left over night, to keep them lighted to prevent such accidents, and it should be done here.
“Last night, the trench... was left open with large sections of pipe scattered about, making a most complete man-trap.”
Early Seattle was a chaotic construction site, much like the rapidly expanding city of today. The 'man-trap' serves as a reminder of how quickly infrastructure projects can turn into civic liabilities when safety standards are treated as optional.
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