A Near-Fatal Encounter on the Seattle Waterfront
A rower’s hesitation nearly costs him his life under the paddles of the West Seattle ferry.
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.
William Johnson was run over by the West Seattle ferry boat Thursday evening about 6 o'clock while trying to cross her bow in a rowboat as she was nearing her wharf. The captain saw him and shouted, but instead of pulling hard forward, he stopped and attempted to back. The captain stopped the engines, but before the engineer could reverse her, she had struck the little craft and over it went. As the boat went under, Johnson let out a roar that brought everyone in the vicinity to the wharf to see what the matter was. Nothing could be seen of him for some time and it was supposed he had gone down, when suddenly he was heard crying out from the side of the boat. On looking over, those on board saw him hanging on to the paddle blades of one of the wheels. He was rescued without difficulty. No damage was done his boat beyond the breaking of an oar.
“As the boat went under, Johnson let out a roar that brought everyone in the vicinity to the wharf to see what the matter was.”
While the ferry routes are now central to Seattle's commute, the waterfront was once a much more chaotic, industrial, and dangerous space for small-craft operators. The incident reflects the constant tension between commercial vessels and private water traffic that defined the city's early maritime life.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.