A Deadly Connection
A young Seattle telephone lineman suffers a horrific electrical shock while working, sparking a community plea for better workplace safety.
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.
A sad accident occurred yesterday involving a twenty-four-year-old lineman for the Seattle Telephone Company. While working near the corner of Madison and Front Street, the young man came into contact with a power line. The contact triggered an intense electrical discharge, causing the man to fall from the pole. His fellow workmen rushed to his aid, finding him in terrible strikes of pain. He was rushed to the office of Dr. J. K. Lewis, where he was treated for very severe burns to his side and back. The accident underscores the mounting dangers faced by electrical workers in the city as infrastructure projects expand. The community is left wondering if more can be done to protect those who keep the city connected.
“The accident underscores the mounting dangers faced by electrical workers in the city as infrastructure projects expand.”
The rapid electrification of late 19th-century Seattle made electrical work one of the most perilous jobs of the era, mirroring today’s struggles with precarious labor in the high-growth tech and construction sectors. This report highlights the cost of infrastructure expansion on the bodies of the workers building the city.
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