A Hunter's Tragic Accident in Mercer Island Woods
A machinist's quiet day of hunting ends in a life-altering industrial-style accident.
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.
Jacob Waite, a machinist who lives at 513 Pearl street, shot himself yesterday afternoon while hunting on Mercer Island and will lose his right arm. Waite was tramping through the woods on the island and had hold of the muzzle of his rifle, trailing the weapon after him. The gun was discharged accidentally, and the ball struck the palm of Waite's hand, shattering the bone and coming out again at the wrist, entered the arm at the shoulder, shattering the joint. The wounded man was aided to East Seattle by a farmer, who took him in a boat to the terminus of Yesler avenue, and thence to Grace hospital in the patrol wagon. Waite having a young wife and one child and being without means, his neighbors guaranteed his expenses at the hospital, where he was attended by Dr. Witherspoon. The arm will probably be amputated today.
“Waite was tramping through the woods on the island and had hold of the muzzle of his rifle, trailing the weapon after him.”
Mercer Island was once a rugged, rural escape where hunting was a common pastime; today, it is a densely populated residential hub where such incidents are unimaginable.
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