Fatal Tramway Accident in Garfield County
Two men were killed instantly after a brake failure on a Snake River tramway sent their car hurtling into a powerhouse.
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.
Word has reached Spokane of a fearful accident at the old tramway on the Snake River, in Garfield County, whereby two men lost their lives and two others were seriously wounded. Two men, Johnson and Bly, were on an ascending car when the brake became unmanageable and the descending car pulled it up at a rapid rate of speed, dashing it against the frame of the power house and hurling Johnson and Bly sixty feet through the air as though shot from a catapult. Bly struck against a building and was instantly killed. Johnson struck a man named Victor, knocking him down and seriously injuring him, and was himself instantly killed. John Roark, who was working back of Victor, was struck by something which cut a hole in his head and shoulder. One car and 6,000 feet of wire cable went into the Snake River.
“Hurling Johnson and Bly sixty feet through the air as though shot from a catapult.”
This incident highlights the extreme danger of industrial infrastructure in Washington's early development, where safety regulations were often non-existent or ignored. Snake River infrastructure projects remain a site of massive engineering complexity and environmental contention today.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.