A First Day at Moran Bros. Ends Under a Cogwheel
Sherman Scott, out of work and newly hired, was helping hoist pumps for a government dry dock when a donkey engine caught his foot. His coworkers raised money for his family.
Sherman Scott had his left foot crushed by a cogwheel of a donkey engine at Moran Bros.' foundry yesterday morning, necessitating amputation. The injured man was removed to Providence Hospital, and the Moran brothers have arranged for him to be cared for.
Scott, who is a poor man and has been out of work, was at the foundry yesterday while the large pumps for the government dry dock at Port Orchard were being raised by means of a donkey engine. He assisted in taking care of the rope as it unwound from the drum of the engine, and as another man was needed he was given employment. The man who had been attending to the unwinding took another part of the work. The rope slipped and Scott, in his zeal to get a hitch around the drum, climbed on top of a cogwheel. When the engine started by signal from the men at the hoisting end, Scott's foot was caught and crushed. Scott says that he yelled to the engineer to wait a minute, but that his cry was evidently not heard.
The employees at the foundry raised money to take care of Scott's family, and the Moran brothers have made arrangements at the hospital for his care.
“Scott says that he yelled to the engineer to wait a minute, but that his cry was evidently not heard.”
Before workers' compensation, a serious injury could plunge a family into poverty; the hat passed at the foundry was the safety net. Seattle's shipyards and foundries were built on such risks, and the fight over who pays for them is still with us.
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