Carpenter Nearly Killed by Falling Lumber
A routine day at a harbor mill turns into a life-threatening accident for a local carpenter.
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.
John C. Burkholder, a carpenter, was struck on the head by a falling scantling while working on the flooring mill across the harbor yesterday afternoon and narrowly escaped being killed. One of the workmen threw a 2x4 scantling from the roof, and Burkholder, who chanced to be passing underneath, received the full force of the timber upon the side of his head. He was knocked insensible, and an examination revealed that the scalp had been torn open six inches. Several arteries had been severed, and the man was in an exhausted condition when Dr. H. M. Hall arrived. After the arteries had been tied and the scalp wound sewed, Burkholder was removed to his house on Francis street, where he is doing well.
“One of the workmen threw a 2x4 scantling from the roof, and Burkholder, who chanced to be passing underneath, received the full force of the timber.”
Workplace safety on the industrial waterfront was notoriously poor, with injuries frequently reported in the press as mere routine occurrences. This story highlights the casual danger faced by early industrial workers building the city's infrastructure.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.