A Perilous Crossing on the Slough
A mail carrier and his companion nearly drown after their boat capsizes while crossing a river slough.
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.
Tuesday Ben Williams, the mail carrier between here and Oakville, had a narrow escape from drowning. As he and a companion were crossing a slough, as a preliminary performance to crossing the river, the boat tipped and they were spilled into the water. It required lively work to save both the mail and themselves.
“It required lively work to save both the mail and themselves.”
Before modern bridge infrastructure transformed travel across Grays Harbor, the mail carrier's life was dictated by the dangerous, seasonal volatility of the region's rivers and sloughs.
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