A Mill Worker's Narrow Escape
A standard day at the Port Blakeley mill turned catastrophic when a falling door triggered the log carriage, pinning a worker against the machinery.
Frank Chappell, a mill employee at Port Blakeley, was hospitalized in Seattle with a broken leg and a smashed foot after a workplace accident. While working in a position known as 'tail wedger' near the saw, a door suspended on rollers above the carriage collapsed. The falling door struck the control lever, propelling the heavy log carriage toward the saw. Chappell was caught between the carriage, the door, and the stationary woodwork. Despite the severity of his injuries—including a torn piece of flesh from his right foot and crushed bone in his left leg—he managed to extricate himself before being transported to the city for medical care. He remains stoic about his recovery, expressing his intent to return to work within a month.
“He was struck and jammed into the stationary woodwork. He extricated himself without help and tried to walk away, but his left foot twisted around, and the pain in his right caused him to sink to the floor.”
This incident captures the terrifying reality of life in the timber industry, which fueled Seattle's early growth. The lack of basic workplace safety standards in 1893 meant that a single loose roller could easily end a person's livelihood, a far cry from modern OSHA requirements.
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