City Hall Left in the Dark
Rumors swirl that a power company pulled the plug on City Hall to spite the outgoing Mayor, but the company president insists it is just a post-fire technical issue.
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 report that the Snoqualmie Power company had permanently discontinued lighting the city hall because of the defeat of Mayor Campbell for re-election is denied by Silas H. Baker, president of the company. To a Times reporter he said: 'Such stories are as annoying as they are untruthful. The reason the city hall is not illuminated is because the Snoqualmie plant has not yet been fully restored since the disastrous fire of some months ago. We have new transformers on the road and as soon as they get here we will be able to increase our service of power to the maximum. The city hall will be lighted again after things are in working order. In Seattle we had to suspend illuminating our buildings for lack of current. The illumination there will be resumed when we resume illuminating the city hall of Tacoma.'
“Such stories are as annoying as they are untruthful.”
Accusations of political retribution via utility service are a timeless trope in local municipal politics. The struggle to balance aging grid infrastructure with public expectations of service is just as present in 2024 as it was in 1904.
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