The Price of a Company Town
Economic instability ripples through Seattle and the Washington Territory as unpaid miners force merchants to tighten their belts.
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.
Merchants and business men in Seattle still complain of dull times; much of this is due to the non-payment of wages due the employees of the coal companies near that place. They have been the backbone of Seattle, so that no complaint should be made more than necessary. Shaddock has paid most of what is due the employees of the transportation companies, yet much is still due at the mines where men have waited a long time without receiving any pay.
“They have been the backbone of Seattle, so that no complaint should be made more than necessary.”
This 1879 report on Seattle's reliance on coal mining wages echoes modern struggles with 'company towns' and the precarity of gig or single-industry economies. When the industry stops paying, the local retail sector—the lifeblood of the community—is the first to wither.
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