A Saloon Brawl, a Broken Back, and a Witness Who Fled Winlock
F. M. Frost's death was ruled accidental, but a missing witness's story says Henry Dabrainer bent him backward like a jackknife and snapped his spine.
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.
CHEHALIS, July 17.—[Special.]—Much excitement exists at Winlock over the circumstances which led to the death of F. M. Frost, a Toledo rancher, in that town last Saturday. One day last week Frost, while intoxicated, got into a scuffle in Jack Fellows' saloon and was so badly injured that paralysis followed, and on Saturday he died. The inquest attached no blame to anybody and declared death accidental.
It is now alleged, however, that a man named Lyons witnessed the scuffle, and if there is truth in his story Frost was foully murdered. Lyons has left the country, but it is alleged that before going he made a statement that Henry Dabrainer, after having thrown Frost out of the saloon, threatened to break his neck if he returned. Frost came back, when Dabrainer caught him by the leg and threw him on the floor. He fell on his shoulder. Dabrainer, still holding him, raised his legs up, and then, bending the man over like a jackknife, threw his whole weight upon him, breaking his back or injuring the spinal column so that Frost could never move the lower part of his body again.
This story is told here by a prominent citizen of Winlock, who came up this morning with half a dozen others, all of whom were in consultation with the county attorney today. This gentleman stated that the inquest was a farce and the only witness of the affair which resulted in Frost's death had been induced to leave the country lest he might make public what he knows. The truth of the case cannot be ascertained, but from the talk of Winlock people in town today it is safe to conclude that Dabrainer is not responsible for the death of Frost, as he has enemies in Winlock in sufficient number to make existence there for him decidedly uncomfortable.
“The inquest was a farce and the only witness of the affair which resulted in Frost's death had been induced to leave the country.”
Small-town inquests and vanished witnesses still determine whether a death is called an accident or a crime. The story is a reminder that who gets to tell—and who can be induced to leave—can matter as much as the physical injuries.
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