The Miner Who Hung by His Teeth
A coal miner's miraculous survival after a terrifying fall through a trestle near Palmer highlights the dangers of early industrial work.
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.
Edward Hudson, a laborer working at the Denny clay mine, had a terrible experience while walking home to Palmer last Thursday. While crossing a trestle, he slipped on an unseen tie, fell, and was caught by his arms. He hung on for dear life with the aid of his teeth, hands, and arms until completely exhausted. When he finally lost his grip, he fell to the bottom of the ravine. He escaped with only a fractured hip, but was forced to lie in the snow for several hours before being discovered. The combined effects of exhaustion, shock, and freezing have rendered his condition serious.
“He hung with the aid of teeth, hands and arms until exhausted and then let go his hold, falling to the bottom of the ravine.”
This harrowing account of industrial negligence and individual survival speaks to the brutal realities of the coal and clay mining boom that built early Washington infrastructure, often at a catastrophic cost to the laborer.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.