Caught in the Shaft: A Tacoma Oiler's Death Nobody Saw
Fred Smith went to work at three in the morning at the St. Paul Tacoma Lumber mill. Two and a half hours later his workmates noticed he was missing — and found him beside the shaft he had been oiling.
Tacoma, April 30.—Special.—Fred Smith, an oiler in the St. Paul Tacoma Lumber Company's mill, was caught in the machinery of the mill at an early hour this morning and instantly killed. He was not seen alive after about 3 o'clock this morning, and at 5:30 his workmates became anxious about him and began to search for him. His body was found lying near the shaft which he had been oiling, the only injury to it being a bruise on the side of the head. Smith had probably been dead several hours when found.
Coroner Parks was notified as soon as the body was discovered, and made a thorough examination of the remains. The only wound found on the body was on the head, which leads to the belief that Smith was struck but once, his head striking the timber. The force of the body tore the clothing loose from the shaft, and it fell to the floor, where it was found. Smith was employed under his brother Thomas, and went to work at 3 o'clock this morning. It is believed that the machinery caught his blouse and threw him high in the air, dashing his head against a beam. The body will be interred tomorrow.
“The force of the body tore the clothing loose from the shaft, and it fell to the floor, where it was found.”
Night-shift oilers worked alone among open shafts and belts, and a man could die hours before anyone missed him — the report reads almost like a safety inspector's case file, minus any finding of fault. Washington's timber mills were among the deadliest workplaces in the country before industrial insurance arrived. The same questions about who is responsible when a worker dies alone on the graveyard shift are still being litigated in the state today.
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