Tragedy in the Timber: A Pioneer's Fatal Accident
A newlywed husband is widowed in a freak accident when a tree, toppled by the great storm of 1891, crushes his wife in their own backyard.
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.
Tacoma, Dec. 31. Friends of Henry Horn, who for three years has been employed as a painter in this city, learned today of the tragic death of his wife, which occurred last Saturday night at their home on South 19th and M Streets. The couple were married only four months ago, and their house was on the outskirts of town. During the intense windstorm of Saturday night, a large tree was blown over upon the couple's small home, crushing it and instantly killing Mrs. Horn. She was struck in the small of the back by the limb of the tree, and her skull was also crushed. They were buried today.
“During the intense windstorm of Saturday night, a large tree was blown over upon the couple's small home, crushing it and instantly killing Mrs. Horn.”
While Tacoma has developed into a dense urban center, the vulnerability of residential housing to falling trees during windstorms remains a recurring, seasonal reality for homeowners in the Pacific Northwest, mirroring the structural anxieties of the 19th-century frontier.
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