A Logger's Amputated Leg, a $700 Bill, and the Lodge That Wouldn't Pay
Skagit logger Daniel Kehoe lost a leg, and La Conner's United Workmen covered three months of care. His Nevada home lodge had not reimbursed them.
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.
Daniel Kehoe, the Skagit logger who suffered amputation of the leg, and has been here under the doctor's care during the past three months, left last Tuesday for Virginia City, Nev., where his family resides. He had been only a few weeks on the Skagit when he met with the accident. Mr. Kehoe being a member of the United Workmen of Virginia City, the La Conner Lodge of that Order took charge of his case and carried him through his troubles, during which he ran up a bill of $700. The Nevada lodge has not reimbursed this lodge for the outlay, and may yet have to be sued. These expenses should be borne by the lodge of which he was a member at the date of the accident, and it will be an unfavorable commentary upon the A.O.U.W. if they do not cheerfully and readily respond to this call. Kehoe's case was a very critical one, and he would have been under the sod today but for the untiring care of Dr. Calhoun and the members of the lodge, who took a kindly interest in helping him through. The Skagit loggers sent $150 with which to pay his expenses to Virginia City.
“Kehoe's case was a very critical one, and he would have been under the sod today but for the untiring care of Dr. Calhoun and the members of the lodge.”
Before modern health insurance, fraternal lodges like the A.O.U.W. were often the only safety net for workers injured on the job. Kehoe's $700 bill and the interstate squabble over who should pay it feel uncomfortably familiar in an era still arguing over medical debt and workers' compensation.
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