Tragedy at Pioneer Place
A laborer loses his leg after a harrowing accident on the Yesler Avenue cable line.
Miles O'Brien, a laborer, aged 50 years, met with an accident on the Yesler avenue cable line yesterday by which he lost his right leg above the knee. While under the influence of liquor the old man boarded a dummy at Pioneer place and was carried up the hill. At Eleventh street he attempted to step from the dummy to the car and slipped between. Two wheels passed over his right leg and, when he was rescued, it was discovered that the leg was crushed to a pulp. The patrol wagon was called and the old man was conveyed to Providence hospital, where Dr. E. L. Smith amputated the wounded leg at the thigh.
“Two wheels passed over his right leg and, when he was rescued, it was discovered that the leg was crushed to a pulp.”
Pioneer Place remains a central hub in Seattle, though the cable cars that once defined transit and danger have long been replaced by electric light rail and buses. Industrial injuries of this nature were common in a city undergoing rapid, often reckless, infrastructure development.
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