A Boy Lost to the Mill Stream
A tragic accident at the dam leaves a family and a community in mourning.
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.
On Sunday evening, the alarm was raised that the eldest son of Mr. William Home had been drowned in the mill stream. Upon inquiry, it was found that the boy, barely six years old, had been seen by Mr. C. Carpenter’s children around 4 o'clock on the opposite side of the stream. They urged him to return, but he said he would gather more lilies first. A Chinese cook reported seeing the lad on the mill side at half-past six, though subsequent events suggested he was mistaken. A search was instituted among the mill buildings and along each bank. On examining the dam, two narrow planks over the overflow water leading to the opposite bank were found wet. It was surmised the boy attempted to cross, lost hold of the planks, and was swept away. At daylight on Monday morning, the father discovered the lifeless body of the boy in the eddies below the dam.
“The boy, who was barely six years of age, had been seen... and they urged him to return, but he said he would gather more lilies first.”
Accidents involving the treacherous, industrial-edged waters of early Seattle’s mill-heavy landscape were a common, recurring grief. Today’s waterfront, while sanitized and redeveloped, still bears the history of these working waterways that claimed many lives during the city’s expansion.
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