Trolley Conductor Survives High-Voltage Shock
A conductor working the Spanaway line narrowly escaped death after receiving a severe electric shock during a routine repair.
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.
While fixing the trolley on his car yesterday, John L. Windley, a conductor on the Spanaway line, received such a heavy charge of the electric current through his body that he fell heavily to the ground. It was several hours before he recovered sufficiently to be brought to the city. It happened that at the moment the conductor had a hold of the rear trolley, the motorman raised the other to the wire and a complete circuit was made. One of Windley's hands was severely burned, and his head was bruised by the fall. It is thought he will be able to be at work again in a few days.
“A complete circuit was made. One of Windley's hands was severely burned.”
This incident underscores the inherent dangers faced by early 20th-century transit workers operating the new electrical grid, a predecessor to modern workplace safety and industrial labor concerns.
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