Tragedy at the Cornwall Mill
A seven-year-old boy drowns in Whatcom Creek, and witnesses fail to intervene, claiming inability to swim.
Andrew Johnson, the 7-year-old son of Henry Johnson, an employe in the Cornwall mill, was drowned today in Whatcom creek. The boy was returning from school at 12 o'clock, and in crossing a plank over the creek he fell in. Three men saw the accident, but made no attempt to rescue the lad, claiming they were unable to swim. The body was recovered an hour and a half after. The creek at the point where the drowning occurred was only twenty feet wide and ten feet deep.
“Three men saw the accident, but made no attempt to rescue the lad, claiming they were unable to swim.”
This haunting account reflects the hazards of a booming industrial town like Bellingham (formerly Whatcom) where children navigated precarious infrastructure daily. The public apathy of the witnesses remains a chilling detail often found in historical reports of urban tragedies.
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