The Perilous Midnight Row Across the Harbor
Two mill workers, caught in a fierce gale while attempting to row across the Aberdeen harbor, spent hours fighting for their lives against the wind and tide.
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.
L. W. Coons and Ora Weaver had a perilous ride last Friday. They are both employed at Bert Morse's shingle mill at West Aberdeen and had been up to attend the Good Templars' social. Desiring to be at their work Saturday morning, they started about 11 o'clock to row down the harbor to the mill. Soon after starting, the storm came on and they were tossed about on the waves until 1 o'clock in the morning, when they managed to reach shore. They say at times the wind seemed to lift the boat clear out of water.
“They say at times the wind seemed to lift the boat clear out of water.”
Rowing across the Grays Harbor estuary remains a hazardous endeavor even for experienced mariners, especially during the autumn gales that still batter the Aberdeen waterfront. This story captures the precarious nature of early industrial life in Aberdeen, where a social night out could turn into a fight for survival due to the lack of infrastructure between the fledgling neighborhoods.
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