Judge Wood's Perilous Plunge
While traveling by water for a political campaign, a local Judge slips from the deck of a steamer and nearly loses his life in the sound.
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.
Last Monday evening, as the campaign party of which Judge Wood was a member was on the way to Whidbey Island to hold a meeting, being half a mile from the island under the twilight, Judge Wood stepped up on the rail of the little craft to let a gentleman pass him, when his foot slipped and he fell overboard. He had on heavy boots and large overcoat, but being a good swimmer succeeded in keeping his head above water. Fortunately Mr. J. A. Hume saw the Judge when he went overboard; being a man of rare presence of mind, he at once launched a skiff from the top of the steamer, and getting into it started to Judge Wood's relief. The steamer was one hundred yards from where the Judge fell overboard before her speed was checked. The Judge was rescued, and has done a week's hard work in the campaign and in his office since that time, but he says he will always feel under obligations to Mr. Hume for his promptness in hastening to his rescue while in that perilous situation.
“Judge Wood stepped up on the rail of the little craft to let a gentleman pass him, when his foot slipped and he fell overboard.”
Travel by steamer was once the primary way to navigate the inland waters of the Salish Sea. Today, even with modern ferries, the unpredictable nature of our cold, deep waters reminds us that human safety and community rescue remain essential to life in the Northwest.
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