The Sailor Who Hung by His Own Neck
A seaman aboard the English ship Halewood survives a sixty-foot fall after a piece of rigging snags his throat in mid-air.
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.
Charles Doherty, a seaman of the English ship Halewood, now in port, was taken to Providence hospital yesterday to be treated for injuries caused by a fall from the royal mast while en route to Seattle. Doherty shipped as an able seaman from Rio de Janeiro last October and arrived at Seattle a few days ago. On the way, he was ordered to scrape down the royal mast, the top of which is about 130 feet from the deck. In order to prevent his slipping, Doherty took a gasket—a flat, plaited cord used in furling a sail—and, so that this rope might not hinder him while climbing, he wound one end around his neck and the other about his body. He had mounted to the royal mast and was about to begin work when he lost his hold and fell. As his body struck the crosstrees, it bounded to one side and shot downward. He had fallen about sixty feet when his left arm struck the stays. The force of the collision caused the rope to unwind itself from his body and catch in the rigging, the other end remaining around his neck. As his body continued its descent, it was suddenly brought up with a jerk, and the men on the deck saw their comrade hanging by his neck. All thought the jerk had broken his spinal cord, but when the body was taken down, it was found that a feeble pulse remained. The right arm was broken, and he remained unconscious for three days. When he recovered, he could not remember the accident, only knowing it happened due to the broad red mark around his neck.
“As his body continued its descent to the full length of the rope it was suddenly brought up with a jerk and the men on the deck saw their comrade hanged by his neck.”
This harrowing account of a maritime accident reflects the extreme physical risks faced by laborers in Seattle’s busy turn-of-the-century harbor. Today, the industrial waterfront has evolved from a site of precarious sail-rigging to a high-tech global shipping hub, though the history of labor-related injuries remains a constant thread in our port's development.
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