A Hero’s Death and a City’s Charity
A city employee dies saving a child, leaving a struggling family destitute in a cold, unforgiving city.
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 sum of $76.80 is in the hands of the POST-INTELLIGENCER for the mother, sister and brother of Robert H. King, the young man who lost his life in the harbor last Saturday while attempting to save another from drowning. Young King was in the employ of the city, and while on the garbage scow, his attention was attracted to a 12-year-old boy who had fallen overboard. He hastened to rescue the little fellow, and in his eagerness to pull the boy out he lost his footing and went headlong against a pile. The blow knocked him senseless and he sank beneath the water. When his body was recovered, he was dead. At his home at 402 Union street were a younger brother, suffering from typhoid fever, a sister in delicate health and his mother. The family waited his home coming for dinner, but he did not arrive. Instead, the physician called and gently told the mother that her boy, the sole support of the family, was dead. The small pay King received from the city barely sufficed to pay doctor's bills and feed a family of four. Now, they are in absolute want.
“The family waited his home coming for dinner, but he did not arrive.”
This story highlights the pre-safety-net reality of 1890s Seattle, where the death of a sole breadwinner meant immediate poverty. It serves as a reminder of how labor, housing, and survival were inextricably linked before the advent of modern social programs.
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