The Unstoppable Press: Reporting from the Ashes
When the offices and machinery of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer were consumed by fire, the paper didn't miss a beat, resorting to job presses and sheer grit to keep the city informed.
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.
The pluck of the newspaper publisher is best exemplified when he is put to it to issue his paper on time, notwithstanding the destruction of his mechanical plant. The recent fire proved to what extent the courage of the publisher will carry him in order to have his paper appear on time. Although the merchant takes days to secure business, the tradesman months to restock his shop and repair machinery, the newspaper man almost invariably refuses to be delayed. It must be a calamity like that which befell the Post-Intelligencer to knock him out completely. The Intelligencer appeared on time the morning after the fire, though the plant was destroyed. What it was managed to do would tax the efforts of an ordinary amateur printer. But the paper came out nevertheless, though it was of course reduced in size.
“Although the merchant takes days to secure business, the tradesman months to restock his shop and repair machinery, the newspaper man almost invariably refuses to be delayed.”
In 1889, the Great Seattle Fire destroyed the city's business district, including the original Post-Intelligencer offices. This story highlights the essential, almost stubborn role of local news as a civic survival mechanism—a theme that persists in the era of digital transitions and the constant threat of newsroom closures.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.