After a Wharf Collapse, a Call for City Inspectors
W.A. Harrington wants Seattle to hire a wharf inspector with power to inspect piling, force repairs and arrest dilatory owners—paid for by an assessment on the wharves themselves.
The collapse of part of Harrington Smith's wharf has impressed on W. A. Harrington's mind the need of a wharf inspector appointed by the city. He said yesterday: "I think the city council should immediately pass an ordinance creating the office of a wharf inspector, whose duty it shall be to inspect all piling, especially under the railroads, and compel the owners to keep it in repair. He should be familiar with piling and the teredo. He should have power to act and to make arrests if wharf owners are dilatory. Such a man can be secured for $75 a month. I, for one, am anxious to be the first to pay the amount assessed on our firm. The salary of the inspector should be raised by assessment on the wharf owners."
“I think the city council should immediately pass an ordinance creating the office of a wharf inspector.”
Seattle's waterfront was built on timber piles vulnerable to the teredo, or shipworm, and Harrington's proposal was an early attempt to make private wharf owners pay for public safety. The same questions—who maintains aging infrastructure and who foots the bill—still surface in debates over seawalls, piers and private docks.
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