The Clock That Kept Time in the Ruins
When the Oriental Hotel burned, a single clock was found ticking away on a charred wall amidst the wreckage.
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 absence of wind, and the good work done by Seattle Engine Co. No. 1 and Tiger No. 2, prevented the flames from spreading to other than the building in which they originated. Mrs. Briscoe's lodging house, on the corner of Second and Cherry streets, which extends back to within a foot of the Oriental, took fire several times, but the flames were extinguished before any damage to speak of resulted. The whole interior of the hotel was burned out with the exception of a partition between the dining room and kitchen. In stripping the building of its contents, a large clock, hanging on this wall, had been overlooked. After the fire had been put out, this clock was found hanging to the charred wall, ticking away and keeping time just as though nothing had happened. The building and contents belonged to Mrs. Nels Louis, and were insured in the Fire Association of London.
“This clock was found hanging to the charred wall, ticking away and keeping time just as though nothing had happened.”
The intersection of Second and Cherry is a historic core of downtown Seattle, once surrounded by wood-frame hotels like the Oriental. The persistence of the clock serves as a strange, evocative contrast to the ephemeral nature of the city's early wooden architecture.
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