Laborer Charlie Bell Found Dead in Snohomish River
A body discovered near the log boom turns out to be a local worker, marking a grim start to the summer season.
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.
The body of a man was found floating in the Snohomish river, near the log boom, yesterday morning. The body was identified as that of Charlie Bell, a laborer who worked for Jack Berry, of Snohomish. Bell had been missing for some time. It is thought the man was killed during the brawl between him and Edward Evans, a railroad hand, while seeking to board the Snohomish steamer passenger boat. He was hit on the back of the head by a heavy club of wood, falling from the boat and thrown violently into the river. He was found with his face smashed, breaking his cheek bone and other injuries. He was taken to town on the 6 o'clock train.
“It is thought the man was killed during the brawl... while seeking to board the Snohomish steamer passenger boat.”
Tragic workplace deaths and riverside violence were common in the rapid industrialization of the Pacific Northwest. Today, the Snohomish River remains a site of environmental and industrial history, where the ghosts of the region's 'rough and tumble' past occasionally surface in local memory.
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