The Sawmill Trap
A local mill worker shares a harrowing account of surviving a near-fatal workplace injury.
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.
Peter Carabl, who was injured while working in the Old Town mill last week, is on the highroad to recovery. When seen by a Times reporter, the injured man described the accident in detail: "I was feeling fine that day, more like playing than doing anything else, but I played once too often. I lay down on some lumber which was on the rolls. I pushed my self along towards the cutoff just for a joke. When I was opposite the saw, someone spoke to me, and I started to rise with my face away from the saw. As I did so, the teeth of the saw caught in my clothing and pulled me onto it. I made a strong effort to jerk away, but could not until a deep gash had been cut in both shoulders. I can hear now the sound of the saw as it cut through the bones." Mr. Carabl lives at 2808 South A Street and is the father of nine children.
“I can hear now the sound of the saw as it cut through the bones.”
Workplace safety in Tacoma's early industrial mills was notoriously precarious, often relying on luck rather than regulation. Today, while OSHA standards have replaced such dangers, the vulnerability of working-class families like Mr. Carabl’s remains a central concern in an economy still driven by labor.
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