Community Rallies for Injured Logger
Neighbors organize a benefit dance at Kelley's Hall to support a local man paralyzed by a workplace accident.
A benefit dance for S. M. McGee, who was injured by a falling log this fall, will be given at Kelley's Hall Tuesday evening, Dec. 14. Mr. McGee is still in Spokane and his condition shows but little improvement, the lower part of his body being paralyzed. He has always been a hardworking man and has a host of friends in this section, who will be pleased at the opportunity to lend a helping hand in his time of trouble. A large part of the expenses of holding the dance has been donated.
“He has always been a hardworking man and has a host of friends in this section, who will be pleased at the opportunity to lend a helping hand.”
Before the era of modern disability insurance and workers' compensation, community-led fundraisers like this dance were the primary safety net for laborers injured in the dangerous timber industry. It reflects the tight-knit, mutual-aid culture of early 20th-century Newport.
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