Tragic Workplace Death at Blue Canyon Coal Bunkers
A fireman was killed at Blue Canyon coal bunkers when his clothing caught in the shaft gearing on New Year's Day.
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.
At 12:50 p.m. on January 1, the machinery stopped at the Blue Canyon coal bunkers below the mine. J. H. McGee, a fireman, was killed after being caught in the machinery. He had been observed oiling the shaft gearing between the water and cable drum when his clothing caught. His body was flung thirty feet onto the rocks below the trestle, rolling into the water. In a strange detail, the man's shoes, stockings, and clothes were stripped off during the accident, a circumstance the paper notes as a mystery. McGee was about 33 years old, and the body was recovered by his wife.
“A half articulate cry, a dark object in the air, an echoless thud, and a dead man lay on the rocks thirty feet below.”
Workplace safety in Washington’s early extractive industries was perilous and often fatal. This report captures the raw, industrial danger of the 1890s, where even a routine maintenance task could lead to a sudden and gruesome end.
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