Saving the Archives from the Great Fire

It was six years ago Thursday since the great conflagration of 1889 completely swept away the old city of Seattle and cleared the ground for the new and greater Seattle. It was in the midst of this scene that S. L. Crawford, who had become devoted to the Post-Intelligencer through years of faithful service, left a part of his own movables to be destroyed while he hastened to render assistance in saving the property of the paper, which then had its office on Yesler Avenue just below Front Street. With the instinct of a true newspaper man, his first thought was of the files, and he dashed into the back office and as quickly dashed out again with a pile of big volumes in his arms. 'Let me help you, Sam,' shouted somebody, trying to take the files from him, but Mr. Crawford answered as he ran: 'No, sir. I'm going to save files myself. They are almost my brothers.' So he ran back and forth and never rested till he had carried the last volume to a place of safety. This is how it happens that the Post-Intelligencer has not only files of every paper issued under that name, but of its progenitors, the Post and the Intelligencer, dating back to 1867.