Two Loggers Perish in Sub-Zero Tragedy
A falling tree claims the lives of two lumbermen near Elk, leaving their frozen bodies to be recovered by search parties.
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.
Searching parties on Monday found the mangled and crushed body of John Yunker, age 45, frozen stiff in the snow two miles from camp 35 of the Edwards-Bradford Lumber company, six miles southeast of Elk, Washington. An hour later, they found the dead and frozen body of his partner, Sam Beck, age 38, about 30 feet away, down hill and in some brush. Yunker was instantly killed Saturday afternoon when a dead snag fell upon him and Beck. In his struggles, with one side of his head caved in, Beck had wriggled into the brush. Both men's hats were found four feet apart. The temperature, 18 degrees below zero, hampered the searching party.
“Both men's hats were found four feet apart. The temperature, 18 below zero, hampered the searching party.”
Logging remains a high-stakes, hazardous profession in the Pacific Northwest. While modern safety equipment has advanced significantly since 1917, the unpredictable environment of the deep woods still presents fatal risks to those working the timber industry.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.