Tragic Drowning at the Tacoma Waterfront
An unidentified man, intoxicated and disoriented, falls to his death while attempting to navigate the dark railroad tracks.
An unknown man, who went up Sound on the George E. Starr last Saturday, was drowned at Tacoma that night. He was half drunk, and attempted, after dark, to go from the wharf to the shore over the tied track of the railroad. He fell off and into about six feet of water, from which he was unable to help himself. Before he could be got out by those who went to his assistance he was drowned. The body was recovered and an inquest held. Papers found in his pockets bore several names, as Bernard Tecklenberg, William Harmon, Charles W. King and William G. C. Smith, but which of these names, or whether any one of them, belonged to him, could not be determined. His age was evidently 35 or 40 years.
“He was half drunk, and attempted, after dark, to go from the wharf to the shore over the tied track of the railroad.”
The waterfront of the 1880s was an industrial, often deadly environment for those without resources. This story highlights the lack of safety infrastructure and the precarious nature of life for transient laborers moving between Seattle and Tacoma.
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