Diver Dies in Tragic Salvage Attempt
A rescue operation to right the sunken Umatilla ends in a gruesome accident when a diver is found dead after a communication line fails.
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.
At the Umatilla wreck site this morning, the men in attendance on the air pipes were signaled to haul up by one of the divers, Daniel McGlade. They responded as quickly as possible, but the line failed when he was halfway up. Another diver went down, and when McGlade was brought to the surface, he was found to be in a dying state, his eyes protruding and his face black. He died in a minute or two. A side light of the helmet was found to be broken, but only a gallon of water was found in the diving dress. It is surmised that he had a fit and fell into the hold of the wreck, breaking the glass. Deceased was aged 42 years, a native of New York, and well known in California.
“They responded as quickly as possible, but the line failed when he was halfway up.”
Salvage operations have always been perilous, but the mid-1880s on Puget Sound saw a rapid rise in maritime industrial activity that frequently outpaced safety standards. Today, while we have sophisticated ROVs and advanced diving protocols, the memory of these early maritime disasters reminds us of the human cost that built the region's shipping infrastructure.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.