The Watchman Fought the Flames, but the Clipper Mill Was Gone
A spark from the slab pile was all it took to destroy J. P. Armstrong's shingle mill at Bothell, despite Alfred Johnson's hose and pumps.
The Clipper shingle mill at Bothell, owned by J. P. Armstrong, was burned to the ground on Saturday evening, probably having caught fire from a spark from the slab pile. After sprinkling the mill with the hose as usual about 7 o'clock, Alfred Johnson, the watchman, went into the fire room when he smelled smoke on the second story. He fired up, started the pumps and took the hose with him to the second floor, which he found in flames. Although he played the hose on the building, the fire had gained such headway that he could not check it and the whole mill was destroyed. The dry house was saved and no shingles were lost. The mill had one double block machine and was mortgaged to the Seattle National Bank for $3,000, for which amount it was insured.
“Although he played the hose on the building, the fire had gained such headway that he could not check it and the whole mill was destroyed.”
Bothell's shingle mills were the town's economic engine, and fire was the risk that came with the trade. The Clipper mill's mortgage to Seattle National Bank shows how small-town industry depended on Seattle capital; a single spark could wipe out a business and leave a watchman to explain what he could not save.
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