Fatal Currents: City Under Fire for Electrocution
Electricians question the city's management after two men died from a high-tension wire grounding failure.
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.
That the city may be held liable for the deaths of Arthur Charlson and John Ohrstrom, who were electrocuted yesterday morning, is the general belief expressed by electricians today. The fact that a short current was discovered at 3 o'clock Sunday afternoon, and that the current was not turned off from the high tension wire, it is claimed, is indicative of mismanagement. Several electricians stated to the Times today that the current should have been turned off as soon as the fact was known that the circuit had been grounded. City Electrician Lauzon stated yesterday that he had been told of the trouble on the Bismarck high tension wire, which was diverted into the 110 volt city feed wire, and that he had sent out gangs of men to locate the point where the current had been grounded. This was the height of folly, as no efficient electrician would dare investigate with a treacherous wire holding 2,200 volts.
“no efficient electrician would dare investigate with a treacherous wire holding 2,200 volts.”
This reflects the early dangers of municipal electrification in a rapidly industrializing Tacoma. Issues of public utility safety and government negligence in infrastructure maintenance are themes that continue to appear in local civic oversight debates today.
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