A Workplace Accident at the Dayton Lumber Yards
A timber handler suffers a broken leg while loading lumber, highlighting the daily physical dangers of the early regional timber industry.
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.
Yesterday afternoon George W. Snider had both bones in his right leg broken at the Dayton Lumber company's yard. While he and another man were handling a 4x8 piece of timber, his right foot entered a hole and the weight of the timber overbalanced him, falling on his leg. Mr. Snider was taken to Dr. Day's office, who set the broken bones, and he is now comfortably situated in a room in the Sweaney block. Mr. Snider lives on the George Wright place in Thorn Hollow and came in yesterday for a load of lumber.
“His right foot entered a hole and the weight of the timber overbalanced him, falling on his leg with the result as stated.”
Workplace safety has evolved significantly since 1903, but the regional economy of Walla Walla and its surroundings remains deeply tied to agriculture and light industry. This account captures the brutal reality of physical labor in the era before standardized industrial safety protocols.
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