Industrial Tragedy Claims Everett Lineman
W. S. Hardy, a well-known local electrician, died following a fatal workplace accident while stringing high-tension wires in Spokane.
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W. S. Hardy, a former member of the Electricians' Union and well known to many of the boys in this city, met a sudden death in Spokane the 16th of this month. He, with other workmen, was engaged in stringing high tension wires for the Spokane Traction Co. He was carrying wires up a pole when he came in contact with a high voltage and dropped twenty feet to the ground. He was taken to the hospital and died within a few hours. A physician's examination found his skull fractured, his collar bone broken and internal injuries. He was buried in the Fairmount cemetery in Spokane and his remains were accompanied to the grave by the members of the Electrical Workers' Union of that city.
“He was carrying wires up a pole when he came in contact with a high voltage and dropped twenty feet to the ground.”
Workplace deaths were common and frequently reported in the press of the 1900s, often serving as rallying cries for improved safety standards. It reflects a time when electrification of the Northwest was both a booming industry and a lethal occupation.
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