An Infernal Machine on the Tracks
A dangerous, home-made bomb was discovered on the streetcar tracks in Seattle, chilling a city already tense from labor agitation.
A startling discovery was made by the police of an infernal machine on the Washington street car tracks at the corner of Hampton and Morgan street. The machine was a piece of two-inch gaspipe about two feet long, filled with gunpowder. At either end was fixed a gun cap, so arranged as to communicate with the powder within the center of the pipe. A rod was inserted which would communicate with the powder. The machine was laid along the groove of the track and was so arranged that the wheel of the car would discharge the cap as soon as it was touched. The pipe is now at the police headquarters.
“The machine was a piece of two-inch gaspipe about two feet long, filled with gunpowder. At either end was fixed a gun cap, so arranged as to communicate with the powder within the center of the pipe.”
This 1885 sabotage occurred during a period of intense labor unrest and anti-Chinese sentiment in Seattle, a volatility that mirrors the social friction often seen in contemporary urban labor and housing debates. The use of an 'infernal machine' serves as a stark historical reminder of the high-stakes, sometimes violent, nature of 19th-century industrial conflicts in the Pacific Northwest.
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