The Squeaky Delegate from Everett
A state labor convention in Spokane comes to a screeching halt when a delegate's artificial limb runs dry.
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.
Spokane, Jan 17. Lack of lubricating oil nearly halted the proceedings of the state convention of the Washington Federation of Labor this morning when Seventh Vice-President J. K. Campbell, a delegate from Everett, attempted to take the chair while President Sebe was absent. Campbell was seen to arise from his chair near the center of the room, but he could not walk a step, and there by hangs a tale. Mr. Campbell is equipped with an artificial limb and during the night the joint had become dry. He managed to gain the hall without noticing any trouble, but when he started for the chair there was an audible squeak. He was helped to the stand and W. J. Coates dispatched post-haste for a bottle of the necessary oil. After the oil was supplied to the creaking joint in an anteroom, the wooden member worked admirably.
“He managed to gain the hall without noticing any trouble, but when he started for the chair there was an audible squeak.”
Technology and disability have always intersected in the workplace, even in the industrial landscape of 1912. While this anecdote is told with a sense of humor, it highlights the reality of physical labor and the mechanical reliance of workers who built the Pacific Northwest.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.