Drowning at the Toboggan Slide
A young immigrant perishes in the waters of Lake Washington during a day of recreation.
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.
Risto Milutinovich, a young Servian who came here from San Francisco about three months ago, was accidentally drowned in Lake Washington, a short distance north of Leschi park, yesterday afternoon about 1:30 o'clock, while bathing. Milutinovich, or Vic, as he was known by different people, returned to Seattle from Snohomish three days ago in search of work as a waiter or cook. Yesterday he and Atania Kiragia, a casual acquaintance, went to the lake for a swim. They had been in the water some time, having great sport on the toboggan slide, when Milutinovich made his last plunge. After he struck the water, he stayed on top a moment and then sank without other cry than "Oh!" Two small boys on the boat house float cried out that the poor fellow was drowning. Kiragia reached the water as his friend's head bobbed up and went out of sight again. He grabbed him by the hair but, becoming rattled at the wild manner in which the drowning man grabbed at him, let go and scrambled upon the float. The cries of the boys brought Capt. Biddie and a man named Otto to Craft's boathouse. A boat was procured and grappling irons were let down to the bottom of the lake, which was twelve feet deep. When brought to the surface, the body gave not the least sign of life. Deputy Coroner Frank Carroll and Dr. Whiting arrived and examined the body, but when it was learned he had been in the water between twenty-five and thirty minutes, all hope was given up. He was about 20 years old and a native of Herzegovina, Austria.
“After he struck the water on the toboggan he stayed on top a moment and then sank without other cry than 'Oh!'”
Lake Washington remains a popular spot for recreation, though the 'toboggan slides' and precarious private boathouse culture of the late 19th century have long since given way to public beaches and regulated waterfronts. The tragic death of a young, transient laborer seeking work highlights the harsh realities faced by the immigrant population in a rapidly growing, often indifferent, frontier city.
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