The Perils of the Hand-Crank
A Hover resident sustains a serious injury while starting his automobile, highlighting the physical dangers of early motor travel.
L. J. Dimick met with a serious accident last Friday while in Sunnyside. He had taken his car there to have it repaired and was just going to start for home when he had the misfortune to break his arm in the attempt to crank his car. He returned home Saturday, leaving his car in Sunnyside until later.
“He had the misfortune to break his arm in the attempt to crank his car.”
Before the electric starter became universal, 'cranking' an engine was a high-stakes, physically dangerous ritual that frequently resulted in broken wrists or arms from backfires. Today, the car is an appliance, but the early 20th-century history of Kennewick is defined by this transition period where residents were literally wrestling their machines to get them moving.
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