The Collapse of the Failing Hotel
A tragic construction failure in Seattle results in the conviction of the building's owner for manslaughter.
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.
Seattle, June 23.—Charles A. Bradbury, the builder whose row of buildings on West Hill street fell in a heap on last February and caused the death of Walter A. Grawer, a worker on the building, and who was recently convicted of manslaughter in the second degree, was sentenced by Recorder Burke to two years imprisonment and ordered to pay a fine of $500.
“The builder whose row of buildings on West Hill street fell in a heap on last February and caused the death of Walter A. Grawer... was sentenced to two years imprisonment.”
Building codes and workplace safety remain critical issues in Seattle’s rapid growth. This 1884 tragedy serves as a grim reminder that developers being held criminally liable for unsafe construction is a struggle that predates the modern era of oversight.
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