The Struggle at the Waterfront
A drunken man falls into the water near a rail yard, but his rescue proves more of a fight than a favor.
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.
Hok McIntyre is a big able-bodied man who follows railroading for a living. Last night, however, he got off the track and loaded up on beer to such an extent that when he tried to walk the stringers where the Great Northern is laying track at the foot of Washington street, he lost his hat in the bay. He tried to reach it, but instead fell into the water himself. Then he yelled and Officer Sandstrom came to his assistance. A ladder was put down to him, but instead of coming out of the water, which reached to his neck, he looked up and said: 'You dirty [expletive], come down here and I will put a head on you.' The officer declined the invitation, but made a counter proposition to the effect that if McIntyre would come out they might fight on dry land. This took his fancy and he came up. The patrol wagon was called and at the time it appeared McIntyre was ready to fight. He grabbed Sandstrom's watch chain, broke it, and when the handcuffs were being put on got in a swing on Tommy Totten, who was taking Jailor Sheehan's place, and sent him flying. For a few minutes it was a question whether he was violently insane or fighting drunk. It was decided by the smell of his breath, and at the station he was booked 'drunk.'
“The officer declined the invitation, but made a counter proposition to the effect that if McIntyre would come out they might fight on dry land.”
The waterfront near Washington Street has transformed from a rough-and-tumble industrial rail site into a vital civic corridor. This story captures the grit and lawlessness of Seattle's early maritime rail economy.
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