Horrific Sawmill Accident Leaves Worker Fighting for His Life
A logger is maimed in a catastrophic carriage accident at the Stetson Manufacturing Company mill in Montesano.
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.
Montesano, March 5.—An accident, which will undoubtedly result in the loss of a limb and possibly of life, happened at the Stetson Manufacturing Company's mill in this city yesterday afternoon. William Mallion, off-bearer from the big saws, stepped over on the carriage track to attend to something needing attention and was caught between the carriages and standard of one of the rollers. The flesh was almost completely skinned from one side of the left leg, exposing the bone and leaving the femoral artery bare for several inches but without breaking it. The knee was badly crushed. There is scarcely any chance of the leg being saved and the shock was so great as to seriously endanger life. John Haggerty, an employee in the mill, was so overcome by the sight of blood and the mangled limb that he fainted and fell on a resaw, which fortunately was not in motion, but as it was, his head and one hand were quite badly cut.
“The flesh was almost completely skinned from one side of the left leg, exposing the bone and leaving the femoral artery bare for several inches.”
Early Grays Harbor sawmills were notoriously hazardous workplaces where safety standards were non-existent. While modern logging and milling technology have reduced such gruesome accidents, the physical toll on the labor force remains a central thread in the history of the region's timber economy.
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