The Tragic Disappearance of a Deserter
Sailor Frank Lyman deserted the Henry Failing in Tacoma and is believed to have drowned swimming ashore.
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.
Shipping Commissioner Swift believes that Frank Lyman, the sailor who deserted from the ship Henry Failing last Tuesday night, was drowned trying to make his way to the shore. Lyman was signed to make the trip from Tacoma to Sydney, Australia. He was taken to the boat and placed under orders, but evidently changed his mind. The only means of reaching shore from where the boat was lying at anchor was by swimming. The tide was ebbing when he jumped, and it is thought that he became exhausted before reaching shore and went to the bottom. At first, there were reports he had been seen at his old haunts at the Sailors' Resort saloon in Old Town, but this rumor is false. Lyman was 27 years old and a native of Iowa.
“The tide was ebbing when he jumped from the ship, and it is thought that he became exhausted before reaching shore and went to the bottom.”
The precarious and often dangerous life of sailors in early Tacoma's bustling port is captured here. It serves as a reminder of the human cost behind the city's growth as a maritime trade hub at the turn of the century.
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