The Tragedy at Spanaway Lake
A man’s body, found tethered to heavy freight car brake shoes, offers a grim mystery in the woods near Tacoma.
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, May 8.—A man of medium height, with German cast of countenance, bald, with a large red mustache, aged about 46 years, was found floating in Spanaway Lake this afternoon. A half-inch rope was wound about his neck, at the ends of which were brake shoes from a freight car truck. The body was at the end of a log, and it is thought he prepared to commit suicide and threw himself from the log. The body was face down. Ella Maloney, a waitress, believes it is the body of Thomas Compton, of Alki, near Puyallup. Compton has a wife and two children, and has been missing for two weeks.
“A half-inch rope was wound about his neck, at the ends of which were brake shoes from a freight car truck.”
While today Spanaway Lake is a popular destination for recreation and suburban living, in 1892, its secluded reaches served as the final scene for a desolate act of despair. The mention of 'brake shoes' serves as a stark reminder of the rail-heavy industrial economy that defined the region's workforce during that era.
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