Harbor Master Knocked Into the Filth
A workplace accident on the waterfront sends a city official plunging into the sewer outlet after being struck by a runaway wagon.
Harbor Master Jelich met with painful injuries yesterday morning by being knocked off the Washington Street slip by a runaway wagon. Jelich was standing near the foot of the incline talking to W. R. Chesley when a laborer tried to back down the incline a wagon, which, getting away from him, advanced toward Jelich and Mr. Chesley rapidly. Mr. Chesley jumped out of the way, but the harbor master was not so fortunate, being struck on the hip and knocked off the slip. He struck partially on his neck on one of the gridirons and fell several feet, bringing up in the filth at the mouth of the sewer. The patrol wagon was called and in it Harbor Master Jelich was taken to his home on James Street. Dr. Sweeney attended to his injuries, which consisted of bruises and skin wounds on his hip and leg, besides the injury to his back.
“He struck partially on his neck... and fell several feet, bringing up in the filth at the mouth of the sewer.”
Workplace safety in Seattle’s early industrial waterfront was perilous. This vivid, messy account of a municipal official falling into a sewer outlet illustrates the hazardous reality of the city's infrastructure before it was modernized.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.