Tragedy Strikes Local Youth Over Simple Infection
A 16-year-old resident has succumbed to rapid blood poisoning following a minor facial infection, leaving the community in mourning.
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.
Fred Elliott, the 16-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. W. B. Elliott of the valley, died last Friday of blood poisoning, following an illness of a week. Funeral services were conducted Saturday afternoon at the Baptist church by Rev. W. P. Osgood. Interment was in the local cemetery. The blood poisoning started from the infection of a small pimple on the boy’s lip and the poison spread so rapidly that it was beyond medical science to check it. Mr. and Mrs. Elliott have made their home in the Kennewick valley for a number of years and Fred had been a pupil in the grade school of the city since he had attained school age.
“The poison spread so rapidly that it was beyond medical science to check it.”
This tragic story underscores how dangerous common ailments were before the age of widespread antibiotics. It serves as a reminder of the fragility of life in the early 20th century, which families then navigated with a stoicism often reflected in these 'Card of Thanks' notices.
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