A Near Miss at Second and Pike
A pedestrian’s moment of distraction leads to a dramatic collision with a downtown cable car, resulting in a surprising escape.
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.
E. B. Eisen was knocked over by a cable car at the corner of Second and Pike streets about 8 o'clock last evening and had a narrow escape from a serious accident. He was crossing from the Masonic building to take the North Seattle car, and while looking over his shoulder for a friend, the cable car struck him on the hip and arm. The force of the blow caused him to turn a complete somersault, and his body struck the ground outside the car tracks. He quickly held up his feet to prevent them from being run over. Quite a crowd assembled, the women screamed and one fainted, and while they were all wondering who was hurt, Mr. Eisen slipped out and took the North Seattle car, being hardly the worse for his fall.
“The women screamed and one fainted, and while they were all wondering who was hurt, Mr. Eisen slipped out.”
The intersection of Second and Pike remains one of Seattle's busiest, though the cable cars that once terrorized pedestrians have been replaced by dense urban transit. The dramatic public reaction—fainting onlookers and the victim simply walking away—highlights how dangerous these transit arteries were for citizens of the 1890s.
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