A Deadly Commute to the Newcastle Mines
A ship carpenter’s fatal attempt to board a moving coal train highlights the dangerous conditions of industrial life in 1880s Seattle.
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 Thursday afternoon, Mr. Henry Hanke, a well-known ship carpenter of this city, attempted to board a coal train running at the rate of ten miles an hour between Renton and Newcastle, and as is common in such cases, was thrown under the cars. One wheel ran over his right leg below the knee; his coat catching upon the car, he was dragged some distance. He was discovered by the fireman, the train stopped, and he was rescued from his perilous position none too soon to save his life. He was brought to his home in this city, his leg amputated, and it was ascertained that one of his ribs and his collar bone were broken. He lingered till Saturday afternoon, when he died.
“He was discovered by the fireman, the train stopped and he was rescued from his perilous position none too soon to save his life.”
While we no longer jump onto coal trains to get to work, the risks facing Seattle's blue-collar workforce remain a constant. The 1880s struggle with transit and physical labor in the coal pits echoes today’s ongoing discussions about the dangers of precarious industrial employment and the limitations of transit infrastructure in our region.
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