A Tragic Meal in Tacoma
Two young telegraph messengers are struck down by suspected food poisoning, leaving one dead.
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.
Johnny Kingsbury, son of Captain J. T. Kingsbury of this city, and a companion named Nannary, both messengers in the employ of the Postal Telegraph company at Tacoma, went into a restaurant at that place Tuesday to get their dinners. Shortly afterwards both were taken violently sick and Nannary died within a short time. Master Kingsbury was cared for by Frank D. Cook, formerly of this city, and is now on the road to recovery. It is supposed that they ate of poisoned meat. An inquest is to be held to ascertain the cause of young Nannary’s death.
“Shortly afterwards both were taken violently sick and Nannary died within a short time.”
Food safety was a terrifyingly localized concern before modern regulations, and this account underscores how easily public commerce—like a casual lunch—could end in sudden, unexplained tragedy. While we now rely on strict health inspections, the story serves as a reminder of the industrial dangers faced by workers in the Gilded Age.
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