The Price of a Live Wire
A local man faces a life-threatening complication after a horrific electrical accident.
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.
The rupturing of a blood vessel in his left hand at about 2 o'clock Friday morning came near costing Edmund Anderson his life before the flow of blood could be stopped. Mr. Anderson had come up Thursday from Pasco where he had been receiving treatment in the hospital for his hands, that were badly burned when he accidentally took hold of a 'live' wire two weeks ago. It is thought that possibly the exertion of the trip and his working around his home that day stimulated his heart action and the weakened wall of the artery in his hand gave way. He lost an enormous quantity of blood and was very weak all day Friday, although he was reported to be resting easy at 4 o'clock in the afternoon.
“The rupturing of a blood vessel in his left hand... came near costing Edmund Anderson his life.”
Workplace safety in the early 20th century often placed the entire burden of survival on the individual worker. Today, while we have robust OSHA regulations, the vulnerability of the laboring body remains a central theme in local discourse, particularly in industries involving heavy infrastructure.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.