Four Days Lost in the Olympics
A prospecting trio faced starvation in the mountains after their supply boat route was blocked.
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.
The steamer Delta yesterday brought in from Hood Canal William Slater, Charles Otey, and Arthur Darrah, who had been out prospecting in the Olympics and had gone four days without food. They were almost famished when they reached the cabin of a rancher in the Dosewallip valley near the canal. The trio went out about a month ago, taking a boat and a good supply of provisions. They contemplated pulling the boat as far as possible up one of the streams emptying into the canal, but found the stream blocked, so they had to make the trip on foot, carrying their provisions and blankets on their backs. They had guns with them and saw plenty of deer and elk, but could not get within range of any. Coming back their provisions gave out, and they had to travel for four days without a thing to eat. Darrah ate too much upon reaching food and became very sick, but the others were soon in good condition. The men are all residents of Seattle, Slater and Otey being steamboat men.
“They were very nearly exhausted when they reached the rancher's place and got something to allay their hunger.”
The Olympic Peninsula remains a place where rugged, beautiful isolation can quickly turn into a survival situation. Today's hikers often find themselves similarly humbled by terrain that hasn't changed much in a century.
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