A Veteran’s Tragic Death at the Orchard Fire
A Civil War veteran, struggling with a health crisis, died after attempting to extinguish an orchard fire on his daughter’s ranch.
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.
A harrowing tragedy occurred in White Bluffs on Thursday, resulting in the death of S. H. Hitchcock. The exact circumstances of the accident will probably never be known, but apparently Mr. Hitchcock, who was nearly 80 years of age, had attempted to extinguish a grass fire that had started in an orchard adjoining the U. S. Agnew ranch, and while doing so suffered one of the fainting attacks to which he was subject. When found an hour or so later, his clothing had been almost entirely burned off and his body horribly charred. His watch, purse, and other personal effects were found scattered over several feet of ground, showing that he had dragged himself a considerable distance. When found, he was carried to the home of his daughter, Mrs. U. S. Agnew, with whom he had been living for the past few months, and died a few hours later. He recovered consciousness shortly before the end but suffered no pain. Mr. Hitchcock was a Civil War veteran and was given a military burial Friday afternoon, Dallas McGlothlen Post having the funeral in charge.
“His watch, purse and other personal effects were found scattered over several feet of ground, showing that he had dragged himself a considerable distance.”
The orchard lands of White Bluffs, once a hub of fruit production, are now largely absorbed into the Hanford Site. This story captures the precarious vulnerability of the elderly in rural, pre-social safety net communities.
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