A Rescue at Steilacoom
A 75-year-old Tacoma resident attempts to end her life in the Sound, only to be thwarted by a quick-thinking teenager.
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.
Believing that her days of usefulness and happiness had gone by, Miss Rebecca McConkey, a maiden lady 75 years old, made a determined attempt to drown herself in the bay at Steilacoom. That her efforts were frustrated was due to the heroic work of Russell Hill, a 16-year-old boy whom she had hired to row her out on the bay. The boy, on reaching a point far out from the shore, became suspicious that the woman was not in her right mind and hurriedly tried to return, but the would-be suicide resisted and the lad found it necessary to tie the old lady down firmly in the little craft before he could make any progress shoreward. After safely landing Miss McConkey, the boy quickly gave the alarm and help arrived just in time to prevent the determined woman from making a second attempt to put out towards deep water. Miss McConkey has been a resident of Tacoma for 18 years and is well known in educational circles. For several months past she has been making her home with Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Davis at Steilacoom, and she often expressed the wish to die and be buried in the Sound.
“She often expressed the wish to die and be buried in the Sound.”
Steilacoom remains a place defined by its proximity to the water, though the isolation felt by the elderly continues to be a silent, pressing issue in urban development today. The account highlights the tragic intersection of mental health struggles and the lack of social support systems for older adults, a narrative that remains painfully relevant over a century later.
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