A Railroad Man's Fatal Fall: The Organizer of Newport's First Commercial Club Dies After a Deer Park Train Accident
Great Northern passenger agent Edward Furness, newly widowed and well known across the district, fell beneath a moving freight train near Deer Park and died at Sacred Heart hospital. He had organized Newport's first Commercial Club.
Edward Furness, traveling passenger agent of the Great Northern, was so badly injured by falling under a moving freight train near Deer Park last week that he will lose one of his feet, if not both. Mr. Furness is well known throughout this district and his many friends will sympathize with him. But a short time ago his wife died and he had not yet recovered from that shock when this sad accident occurred.
Mr. Furness was the organizer of the first Commercial Club in Newport and always took a lively interest in the development of Newport and the adjoining territory.
Later—Mr. Furness died at the Sacred Heart hospital on Wednesday morning. The left leg was amputated above the ankle and the patient failed to recover from the shock.
“But a short time ago his wife died and he had not yet recovered from that shock when this sad accident occurred.”
Furness built Newport's first booster organization and then died in the most modern hazard of his age — the freight yard. A century later, railroad workers still die at a rate that makes the tracks one of the most dangerous workplaces in Washington, and small towns still measure a civic loss by the names on a single obituary.
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