Same Streets
← All stories

Building Move Turns Dangerous for Contractor

A routine building relocation in Kennewick turns into a medical emergency when a heavy-duty cable fails, breaking a man's leg.

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 Munsil, who has the contract for moving the Beyers store building from the old to the new town, had the misfortune Saturday to have his leg broken by the breaking of a cable. He was standing in front of the building, behind one of the pulleys and had just started to heed a warning of the danger of his position, when the cable parted. Both bones were broken just above the ankle. Dr. Mayo was out of town and Mrs. Gruenhagen was called and reduced the fracture. The patient was taken by auto to Yakima Saturday evening.

“He was standing in front of the building, behind one of the pulleys and had just started to heed a warning of the danger of his position, when the cable parted.”

— Printed in The Kennewick Courier-Reporter (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1915
Then · 1915111 years apartNow · 2026

Moving entire buildings was once a standard way to manage town growth, often involving significant physical peril. This accident highlights the dangers inherent in infrastructure shifts, a stark contrast to modern, highly-regulated building logistics.

The original page

The Kennewick Courier-Reporter (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1915-07-15. Library of Congress, Chronicling America.

From readers

No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.

About this story

From
The Kennewick Courier-Reporter (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, JUL 15, 1915, Page 4
Rights
Public domain
Place
46.20261, -119.11697 · placed automatically
The paper in the Library of Congress catalog ↗