The Ghost-Digger of Terrace Street
A man’s desperate, muddy attempt to save lives that only existed in his own mind.
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.
Thomas Melum, an insane Swede, was arrested by Deputy Sheriffs Levere and Woolery yesterday. They found the old man in the road near the new courthouse, on Terrace Street. He was covered with mud and was digging in the ground as if his life depended on his getting to China before sunset. He thought a dozen 'dagos' had been buried alive there, and he told the officers he was digging to get them out.
“He thought a dozen 'dagos' had been buried alive there, and he told the officers he was digging to get them out.”
In 1891, the struggles of those suffering from severe mental illness were often reduced to local color and public spectacle in news columns. Today, Terrace Street and the surrounding area in Seattle’s First Hill neighborhood remain a hub for public institutions, though the city’s approach to crisis and mental health care continues to evolve through the lens of modern social services and civil rights.
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