A Cable Car Gripmans's Violent Run-In
A cable car operator faces legal trouble after a collision with a child results in a serious infection.
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.
John M. Kessler, a gripman on the Yesler Avenue cable road, was arrested by Constable Terry King, charging that he willfully struck Elmer C. Crandall, a boy 9 years of age, in the face. The trouble occurred at the corner of South Second and Yesler Avenue. The boy had a stick in his mouth when he was hit, and one end of it pierced his lower jaw. Inflammation set in and the injury became serious. Kessler, a good-natured man commonly called 'Fatty,' says the boy came up behind him as he pulled the cable. Kessler claims he took hold of the grip and when he let go, his hand hit the boy accidentally.
“The trouble occurred at the corner of South Second and Yesler Avenue, and since that time the boy has not been out of doors.”
This incident highlights the chaotic nature of early Seattle's transit systems, where heavy machinery operated through busy streets in direct contact with pedestrians and children. It captures the social tension of a city evolving from a rough frontier town into a modern metropolis.
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