Tragedy at the River Bank
A 10-year-old boy drowns while bathing near the Richland bridge despite the desperate rescue attempts of his playmates.
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.
Eddie Hellinger, the 10-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Hellinger, of Richland, was drowned about three o’clock this afternoon in the Yakima river just below the Richland bridge. The boy, who could not swim, was bathing in the river in company with Carl Timmerman and Earl Clements. In spite of the warnings of his playmates, Eddie insisted on diving off the bank and was carried into deep water. The other boys swam to the rescue but were unable to bring their struggling companion to the shore and they were trying to reach him by boat when he went down for the last time. News of the accident spread rapidly through the Richland community and soon a large number of men were on the scene in search of the body, which had not yet been recovered late this evening.
“The other boys swam to the rescue but were unable to bring their struggling companion to the shore.”
Accidental drownings in the Yakima River remain a recurring tragedy in the Tri-Cities, often highlighting the dangerous, deceptive currents of the waterway. Public warnings about the river's hidden risks echo the same concerns raised by community members in 1916.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.