Tragedy at the Powder Works
Corporate negligence leads to the deaths of nine young girls in Chehalis, fueling calls for labor accountability.
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.
The recent explosion at the Chehalis powder works, which claimed the lives of nine young women, has been labeled a 'farce' by labor observers. While a coroner's jury—composed primarily of businessmen and bankers—exonerated the Imperial Powder Company of all blame, the investigation was marred by conflicts of interest. The company's own attorney sat with the prosecutor during the proceedings, stifling testimony. Reports indicate the victims included girls as young as 18, forced to work in a cramped space surrounded by twenty tons of stored explosive powder. This tragedy highlights the lethal cost of corporate greed, though the implementation of the state's new compensation act ensures the victims' families will receive some financial restitution.
“Plainly speaking, corporate greed cost nine lives.”
This story highlights the era's brutal industrial conditions and the subsequent struggle for basic workplace safety regulations. The shift from 'assumption of risk' in the courts to the state-mandated compensation acts was a direct response to such preventable industrial carnage.
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