Trackside Nap Leads to Injury
A teenager working for the Great Northern Railway was struck by a train while waiting for a shift change near Leavenworth.
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.
Walter Rasmussen, a boy 16 years old, was brought to the Everett hospital suffering from a bruised and sprained ankle received at Leavenworth. Rasmussen was employed by the Great Northern on a bridge near Leavenworth where crews were busy day and night. After finishing his shift, he laid down beside the track to sleep while waiting for his next turn. As he slept, he rolled closer to the rails, and in the darkness, the engineer failed to see him. His ankle was struck by the train.
“After he had finished his shift he laid down beside the track and went to sleep waiting for a second shift.”
This story highlights the brutal working conditions and physical hazards for young laborers in early 20th-century Washington, reflecting a time when labor regulation and industrial safety standards were in their infancy.
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