Seattle's Squabbling Firefighters
A newly constructed engine house on South Third Street sits empty because the local fire companies refuse to use it, preferring to keep their equipment on Columbia Street.
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.
Seattle Engine Co. No. 1 is still in charge of both steamers, and both are yet kept in the wooden engine house on Columbia Street. For some reason or other, the costly and elegant building put up by the city on South Third Street does not suit the boys who run with the machines, and they decline to use it. The Tiger company stands by the old hand engine, and refuses to take the new steamer offered upon which they can get it. The present arrangement is not a good one certainly, and should be terminated by the organization of a third company and the occupancy of the new building. Three engines and companies are none too many in a town like this, and their location should be in at least three different places.
“For some reason or other, the costly and elegant building put up by the city on South Third Street does not suit the boys who run with the machines.”
This highlights the long history of municipal friction in Seattle, where city infrastructure projects sometimes clash with established local interests or 'the way things have always been done.'
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