The Captain Returns from the Dead
Sensational rumors of a shipwreck off Cape Flattery vanish as the captain of the schooner Ella sails safely into Tacoma.
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.
"I am the man that they said was drowned," said Captain Hickey of the schooner Ella to The Times today. "Some bad weather and a scarcity of fish delayed us, but we were not in the least danger and didn't have an accident of any kind." Sensational reports had been circulated stating that the Ella had met disaster off Cape Flattery and that several of the crew, including the captain, had been lost. This dramatic story turned into thin air when the trim little craft came up the Sound to Tacoma last night. The Ella brought a fair catch of fish, while other vessels including the Annie M., Hero, and Jennie Decker also came in with cargo, though fish markets remain thin.
“I am the man that they said was drowned.”
In an era of slow communications, misinformation traveled as fast as the rumor mill. This story captures the pre-digital era's tendency toward 'yellow journalism' and the public's appetite for maritime disaster narratives.
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