A Miner's Life and Limb
A worker sues the Seattle Coal & Iron Company for $7,450 after a roof collapse in the Gilman colliery.
Joseph Donlon, in the superior court yesterday, sued the Seattle Coal & Iron Company and John H. Bryant, receiver, for $7,450 alleged to be due for injuries sustained February 3. At that time, Donlon says he was operating a hand drill in vein No. 1 of the Gilman colliery, and was crushed and severely mangled by the falling roof, due, he alleges, to negligence. His hand and face were cut, his right leg broken, the knee joint permanently injured and his entire system greatly impaired. He says his services were worth $100 a month, and that his earning capacity has been destroyed. He asks for judgment awarding him the sum.
“His hand and face were cut, his right leg broken, the knee joint permanently injured and his entire system greatly impaired.”
The Gilman colliery, located in what is now the Issaquah area, was a major site of industrial labor in the 1890s. The struggle for worker safety and compensation in the mines remains a foundational chapter in the history of Washington's labor movement.
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