A Workplace Tragedy at the Docks
A yard hand files a lawsuit against the Stetson-Post Mill Company after a logging accident on a dangerous, chute-less dock left him permanently injured.
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.
Frank Granstrom began action in the superior court yesterday against the Stetson-Post Mill Company to recover $5,000 for injuries caused by a log falling upon his leg while he was assisting in loading a scow. Granstrom avers that on January 6, 1893, he was employed as a yard hand and directed to assist in loading a scow twelve feet below the level of the dock. He claims it was very dangerous to load without a long chute, which the company failed to supply. While he was working, a heavy timber was allowed to slide from the dock, rebounded off the scow, and crushed his leg and ankle. Granstrom claims he was a new hand and did not understand the dangers, and he demands judgment for $5,000 for his pain and the loss of his livelihood.
“He was directed to take hold of it and assist in placing it upon the scow... the company's agents carelessly allowed the upper end of the timber to slide from the dock.”
This lawsuit captures the brutal reality of the early lumber industry where workers were often viewed as expendable. Modern labor regulations and workplace safety standards in Washington can trace their roots to such documented, preventable industrial accidents.
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