A Perilous Voyage to Bainbridge Island
Two men vanish in a heavy gale while attempting to cross the Sound in a sailboat heavily laden with grain.
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.
The fate of James Severson, postmaster at Howell's Bay, and B. Johnson, who left Seattle Monday afternoon in a sailboat for Bainbridge Island, is not yet known, but their continued absence strengthens the belief that they were drowned. No trace of the boat has yet been discovered, but inasmuch as it was heavily loaded with grain in sacks, it may have gone to the bottom. Johnson was 40 years of age and had a wife and five children. Severson was about 40 years old and leaves a wife and three children. The wind was blowing a gale and the Sound was very rough, but the boat being new, the men felt no fear and started on the perilous passage.
“The wind was blowing a gale and the Sound was very rough, but the boat being new and having plenty of canvas the men felt no fear and started on the perilous passage.”
Small boat accidents remain a recurring tragedy in Puget Sound. This story captures the daily risks taken by those living in the outlying bays and islands during the city's early development.
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