A Fatal Fall at the Construction Site
A young carpenter fell 20 feet from scaffolding while working on a new house, leaving him with critical injuries.
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.
J. F. Valanto, a carpenter who arrived here four or five months ago, met with an accident yesterday which will undoubtedly cost him his life. He was working for Mr. Geiss, at H. W. Piper's new house, corner of Pine and Tenth streets, when by some cause he slipped from the scaffolding, falling to the ground, a distance of 20 feet, striking on his head. He was picked up in an insensible condition and carried to Providence Hospital. Dr. Smith dressed his wound, which was five or six inches long on his head. The man afterward vomited blood, showing that he was internally injured. He was still unconscious at 6 o'clock last evening, and the doctors did not expect him to live till morning. He is a native of Bohemia, aged 32 years, and was known as a very steady, industrious man.
“He was picked up in an insensible condition and carried to Providence Hospital.”
This 1883 construction accident highlights the extreme dangers inherent in the rapid, unregulated building boom of early Seattle. Today, Washington's L&I (Labor & Industries) department maintains strict safety codes that make such a fall from 20 feet a reportable incident rather than a death sentence.
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