A Leap Into the Dark on the Tracks of Tacoma
A desperate local businessman chose a violent end on a moving train in South Tacoma, leaving a grieving family and a community to reckon with his tragic decision.
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. T. Addington, aged 55, a wood and coal dealer, is in a critical condition from injuries received Sunday morning by jumping from the Portland train near his home, on Bailey street, in the south end of the city. His right eye was knocked out, his jaw and cheek bone fractured, his nose driven into his brain, and his side a mass of bruised flesh. Addington's son-in-law, C. M. Thomas, who also jumped at the same time, had his face lacerated. Addington has a wife and six children. He probably will die.
“His right eye was knocked out, his jaw and cheek bone fractured, his nose driven into his brain, and his side a mass of bruised flesh.”
This 1891 report highlights the stark intersection of personal financial ruin and the rapid growth of Seattle's neighbor, Tacoma. The vulnerability of families left behind by breadwinners during economic instability remains a recurring, painful theme in Pacific Northwest headlines today.
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