Tragedy in a Scratch: Local Business Leader Lost to Infection
A minor injury from a cat scratch leads to a fatal case of blood-poisoning for a prominent grocery wholesaler.
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.
William A. Johnson, vice president of the Love-Johnson Grocery company, died at 2:35 o'clock this morning at his home, 313 North I street, of blood-poisoning, caused from a scratch on his arm made by a cat about ten days ago. The scratch was not a severe one and Mr. Johnson paid no attention to it at the time, but it became irritated and spread, then a physician was called in. Despite the efforts of both Dr. Love and Dr. E. M. Brown the man grew worse and death resulted this morning. Mr. Johnson was 35 years of age and came here from California four years ago. Mr. Johnson was a thorough business man and aided materially in bringing the Love-Johnson company up to the prosperous condition it enjoys at the present time.
“The scratch was not a severe one and Mr. Johnson paid no attention to it at the time but it became irritated and spread.”
In an era before widespread antibiotics, the lethality of minor infections serves as a sharp reminder of how different everyday life was. The address, 313 North I Street, remains in a historic residential neighborhood of Tacoma.
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