West Street Chaos
A runaway delivery horse turns into a multi-wagon wreck near the University Street trestle.
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.
An exciting double runaway occurred on West Street yesterday afternoon. A delivery horse belonging to Knox Damon started from near the foot of Spring Street and ran up West Street with the swiftness of a hare. He darted in on the sidewalk under the University Street trestle, just missing a child sitting on the curb eating a piece of watermelon. The animal continued up past the Vulcan Iron Works, scattering old iron in every direction. As the runaway passed the foot of Seneca Street, the wagon struck a dray belonging to A. M. Cales, causing that team to panic in the opposite direction. Both incidents resulted in broken wagons but no human casualties.
“He darted in on the sidewalk under the University street trestle, just missing a little child sitting on the edge of the sidewalk eating a piece of watermelon.”
West Street—now Alaskan Way—has always been a chaotic thoroughfare. While horse-drawn runaways are things of the past, the collision of heavy delivery traffic and pedestrians remains a familiar hazard on Seattle's waterfront.
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