The Dark Perils of the Tide Flats
A lonely worker from a nearby lumber camp is found drowned after losing his way in the pitch-black darkness near the waterfront.
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.
About seven o'clock yesterday morning a teamster found the dead body of a man on the beach at the foot of Jackson street, below the high embankment. The body was identified as that of Robert McLeod, a native of Nova Scotia, who had been employed at Baxter's lumber camp. McLeod had been paid $107 on Tuesday and spent the evening with a friend. At 2 o'clock the following morning, he departed to catch the Emma Hayward, but the night was extremely dark, and it is supposed he missed his way and walked over the embankment. The jury returned a verdict of accidental drowning.
“The night at this time was extremely dark, and it is supposed that, being unfamiliar with the locality, the unfortunate man missed his way and walked over the embankment.”
Jackson Street's evolution from a dangerous, dark embankment at the edge of the tide flats to a major city artery is one of Seattle's greatest engineering feats. McLeod's tragic death highlights the physical dangers workers faced in the pre-electrified city, where geography could turn lethal in an instant.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.