Winter Skating Perils on Lake Union
A mild thaw turns dangerous for skaters on Lake Union, leading to a series of rescue operations.
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.
Sunday afternoon no less than eight persons fell through the ice at Lake Union, but fortunately all were rescued. The first were two Hull boys, Freddie Gaseh and George Stempfli. A light fall of snow had covered the ice so that it was almost impossible to tell where the thin ice, which had formed over the hole made by the ice packers the day before, commenced. These boys were skating along and slipping on this thin ice went through. They both set up unearthly cries for help that could be heard for a mile. In an instant every skater on the ice had rushed to their assistance, and in a few minutes they were both hauled out. Another gentleman who was shoving a skiff out to where the boys were broke through, but hung to his boat until he could be pulled out. Shortly after this Mr. A. Schrader was shoving his wife along over the ice on a sled. When near a boom of logs, at the new mill, the ice gave way under them, and both went headlong into the water. Fortunately M. L. Campbell and F. W. Clayton were near by and rescued the man and his wife.
“They both set up unearthly cries for help, that could be heard for a mile.”
Lake Union was a industrial site in 1884, frequented by ice packers, whereas today it is a recreational hub. The community response to the accident highlights how neighbors looked out for one another in a city that was still physically raw and unrefined.
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