Shingle-Weaver Collapses After Mistaking Poison for Breath Fresheners
An amateur theatrical rehearsal in Tacoma turns into a medical emergency when a man swallows the wrong bottle.
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.
Hastily swallowing several capsules from a bottle supposed to contain breath tablets, J. Offstad, a young shingle-weaver, brought an amateur theatrical rehearsal to a sudden close by reeling to the center of the room and falling in a dead faint before he could be assisted. The young man was thought to be dead, but a doctor, who was immediately summoned, revived him in a half hour's time. The rehearsal was being held in Mr. Offstad's home on North Thirtieth street. A number of young people of the Old Tacoma lodge had assembled when the young man took the medicine. The doctor stated that had the dose been slightly larger, chances for the man's recovery would have been slight, as the medicine had contained carbolic acid.
“The young man was thought to be dead, but a doctor, who was immediately summoned, revived him.”
Accidental poisonings remain a common feature of local police reporting, though the specific 'breath tablet' confusion reflects the era's patent medicine culture and the casual storage of caustic chemicals in residential spaces.
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