The Dog Who Drowned Twice: A Seattle Tragedy in the Slip
A large black Newfoundland met a bizarre and fatal end at Stone & Wharf last week, plunging into the water twice in a spasm of terror before being rescued by witnesses.
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.
Mr. McAllister related to us a singular instance of the drowning of a canine in the slip at Stone & Wharf.
Day before yesterday, he and a number of men at the warehouse observed a large, hound-dog running along Commercial Street, at the head of the wharf, bellowing and yelping in a fearful manner. When he got directly opposite where they were, running down to where they were, continuing his yelping on reaching the warehouse, he for a moment looked longing at the water, when he was immediately attacked by a spasm, during which he plunged over, and after struggling a while struck out, and swam some distance from the wharf.
Some men on the Teazer, noticing him, went out in a boat and brought him back. He had not been on the wharf long before he commenced howling in the same manner, and again jumped over. He was seized with spasms again after he got into the water, and drowned in the slip.
Mr. Charles Krohna, of the Duwamish Hotel, took a very handsome ornate collar from his neck afterwards, and the owner claimed it of him by proving property. The dog was a large, black Newfoundland, and was undoubtedly valued highly by some one.
In an era before modern animal control or humane societies, the death of a beloved pet was often reported with the same gravity as human tragedy in local papers. This story highlights the deep bond between early Seattleites and their animals, even amidst the rough-and-tumble life of a frontier port town where dogs frequently roamed freely near dangerous wharves.
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