A Heartbreaking Winter in Cle Elum
A Northern Pacific railroad worker's family struggles with extreme poverty and illness in Cle Elum.
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.
Cle Elum, Feb. 15—A sad case of destitution and want was disclosed at Cle Elum today at the home of L. Cox, a section hand on the Northern Pacific railroad. The family has recently buried four children and a fifth is now lying dead in the house, while Mrs. Cox is confined to her bed by epileptic fits. There are three surviving small children, almost clotheless and wanting food. It requires the attention of neighbors to restrain Mrs. Cox during her attacks. Cox is a sober and industrious man, but his small earnings have been entirely inadequate to the continued drain on his purse. A.O. Egbert of Cle Elum visited the town yesterday and collected $15 and a quantity of groceries and dry goods to relieve their wants.
“A sad case of destitution and want was disclosed.”
This story serves as a stark reminder of the precarious nature of life for laborers in the late 19th century. In the absence of a social safety net, families suffering from repeated medical tragedies were entirely dependent on the intermittent charity of their neighbors.
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