Brutal Attack Near Camas Leaves Worker for Dead
A plumber was waylaid on a bridge near the Washougal River, robbed of his tools and savings, and thrown from the span by assailants who remain at large.
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.
Knocked in the head with an iron bar, robbed of $80 in cash, overcoat, suit case and $30 worth of tools, and thrown into the Washougal river, near Camas, to drown, is the fate which befell John P. Klintch, a plumber and tin worker, at noon yesterday at the hands of two men who disappeared and have not been caught. Klintch was walking from Camas to Washougal, and was in the middle of the bridge when two men approached, one from either end, and attacked him with the bar. They robbed and threw him into the river. Klintch was dazed, but the cold water soon revived him, and after a struggle he managed to reach shore.
“Klintch was dazed, but the cold water soon revived him, and after a struggle he managed to reach shore.”
This violent highway robbery highlights the dangers of traveling between industrial outposts like Camas and Washougal in the early 20th century. While the landscape has developed significantly, the isolation of certain rural routes remains a historical vulnerability.
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