The Man Who Vanished: A Fisherman’s Tragic End on the Seattle Waterfront
Al L. Mason, a steady South Seattle fisherman, was found dead in the bay near the Washington Iron Works after slipping from the docks late at night.
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.
FISHED OUT OF THE BAY
Dead Body of a Fisherman. Who Was Drowned Last Night.
Had Started From a Schooner for His Home on the Islands—Public Incident.
At 1:30 A.M. last night, Al L. Mason, a well-known fisherman of South Seattle, was drowned in the bay near the Washington Iron Works after time last night.
He had been seen about 11 o'clock on Commercial Street. It is thought that in the darkness he slipped into some hatch or fell off the trestle and was stunned by the fall. No one around the place heard any cries for help last night.
Mason was about fifty years old and a powerful built man. People who have lived near him for the past nine years say that he was very steady in his habits and very seldom drank. Coroner Sparling has taken charge of all his effects and will make a thorough investigation.
Several letters and photographs were found in Mason's hut which show that he was a married man and has several children living.
This 1900 tragedy highlights the perilous nature of Seattle’s early waterfront, where industrial infrastructure like iron works and trestles often lacked basic safety railings or lighting. The coroner’s specific note on Mason’s sobriety reflects a period anxiety linking working-class deaths to alcoholism, yet the report ultimately frames him as a victim of accidental negligence rather than moral failing.
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