A Honeymoon Near Tragedy at Kalama
A newlywed woman narrowly escapes drowning after falling into the river while returning from a wedding trip.
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 honeymoon of Mr. and Mrs. Charles G. Dehning of Napavine came very near being brought to a sudden and pathetic close at Kalama. Mr. Dehning and Miss Elzina I. Urquhart were married last week. They left for a wedding trip to Portland. Monday night they came home on No. 4 train. At Kalama, in some way or other, Mrs. Dehning, whose eyesight is slightly defective, accidentally fell into the river. A boat was immediately lowered, but she sank twice before help could reach her. She was finally rescued and Mr. and Mrs. Dehning came to Chehalis, where she is receiving care today, and no serious results may follow her narrow escape from drowning.
“The honeymoon of Mr. and Mrs. Charles G. Dehning of Napavine came very near being brought to a sudden and pathetic close at Kalama.”
This harrowing account of a honeymoon incident at a regional rail hub captures the precarious nature of travel in the early 1900s. It serves as a reminder of how local newspapers acted as the primary record for both mundane and tragic milestones in the lives of ordinary citizens.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.