Resuscitated from the Lake Union Depths
A milling company worker narrowly survives a terrifying drowning incident after a log turns under him in the freezing waters.
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.
Fremont was the scene of a thrilling and narrow escape from drowning yesterday. Douglas Read is an employee of the Fremont Milling Company's mill and has the job of sorting and picking out logs for the draw from Lake Union. Yesterday at 2:30 he went out on the raft to do some work, without attracting any attention, as he had done often before. Nothing was thought of him until Superintendent M. A. Snyder and Isaac Burlingame, two other attachés of the mill, heard a splash. Looking out on the raft they saw that Read had disappeared, a log having turned under him and thrown him into about fourteen feet of water. The men made strenuous efforts to save Read and after a couple of very long minutes got him out. He was unconscious and indeed seemed to be dead. A report that he was drowned did gain currency. It was resolved to make an effort to save his life, and Dr. F. R. Rahal was quickly summoned. After working on him for a time, the man was brought to consciousness and was in two hours on the way to complete recovery.
“He was unconscious and indeed seemed to be dead.”
Fremont and Lake Union are unrecognizable today compared to the industrial logging hub described here. The transition from a dangerous, log-filled industrial waterway to the leisure and tech-centric neighborhood highlights how rapidly Seattle's relationship with its landscape has shifted over the last century.
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