A Tragic End for a Shingle Weaver
After signs of erratic behavior, a local union man is found dead in the Stillaguamish River.
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.
Jack Ney, a member of the local shingle weavers' union, met death by drowning in the Stillaguamish River a few days ago. The body had apparently been in the water about two days and had come over the falls. It was found near Granite Falls last Monday and word was immediately sent to the local officers of the union here, who took charge of the remains and had them brought to Everett by Undertaker Jerrnad. Whether the drowning was intentional or accidental no one knows, but the former theory is credited, as he had been talking and acting irrationally shortly before his death. The news was a shock to the local weavers as he had been working here until recently and had a wide acquaintance among members of his craft in the city. The funeral services will be held from Jerrnad's chapel next Sunday afternoon at 1:30 under the auspices of the shingle weavers' union and he will be buried in the Evergreen Cemetery.
“Whether the drowning was intentional or accidental no one knows, but the former theory is credited, as he had been talking and acting irrationally shortly before his death.”
Workplace trauma and the mental health of industrial laborers remain pressing issues in modern Everett. This story highlights the tight-knit support systems—such as the unions providing funeral arrangements—that were essential in the early 20th century, a precursor to modern workers' compensation and mental health benefits.
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