The Well in the Wenas
A local carpenter, suffering from the effects of alcohol, met a gruesome and solitary end after falling into a spring in the Wenas Valley.
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.
Ben Ellenwood, of the Wenas, has been drinking heavily for some time. The latter part of last week he was induced to take a trip to the Wenas by his friends, Charley Fleassy performing the office of the good Samaritan. He arrived at the Wenas all right, but considerably under the influence of liquor. He was doubtless thirsty and went to the spring for a drink, and it is surmised that in reaching down to get some water he tumbled into the well or spring, some four feet from the surface of the ground, and it is surmised that he was unable to get out and perished by drowning before he was discovered. Ben Ellenwood was of more than ordinary intelligence; he was a first-class carpenter; he was industrious, good-hearted, and might have filled a respectable and influential position in society. His remains were taken possession of by the Odd Fellows, and were taken to their cemetery for burial.
“Ben Ellenwood was of more than ordinary intelligence; he was a first-class carpenter; he was industrious, good-hearted.”
The Wenas Valley (near present-day Selah, Washington) remains an agricultural landscape today, but in the 1880s, such stories of men lost to alcohol on the frontier served as stark moralizing warnings. The mention of the 'good Samaritan' and the involvement of the Odd Fellows highlights how social fraternal orders acted as the primary safety net for workers in the territory.
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