Part 1 of three parts.
In researching various topics, I have had the opportunity to examine hundreds of printed newspapers that date back over a century. Front-page articles typically reflected items or events that were the most important news of the day.
In this three-part chronicle, I will be sharing various articles that caught my attention. Some are rather humorous, others more poignant, but all were deemed front-page worthy. I am grouping the articles into several topical areas for your reading pleasure. Photos of the news clips or a summarization of the article’s contents will be given.
Category 1: Drowning or near-drowning
Drowning and near-drowning were fairly common incidents in the early days in Puget Sound and in the surrounding lakes. Most accounts were relegated to back pages, but the following incidents made front-page news. I surmise that was due to the unusual circumstances surrounding the incident or due to the notable individuals involved.
Story 1: On July 22, 1905, a young man drowned in Lake Ballinger. What happened is unclear as two different explanations were given in local newspapers.
Story 2: An intoxicated logger, when refused a drink, jumped off the ferry saying “goodbye” and drowned in Puget Sound as the ferry approached the Edmonds wharf.
Story 3: Two sons of A.M. Yost nearly drowned in front of Yost Lumber Yard in 1907. The moral of the story probably is: If you see that your brother is potentially drowning, don’t jump in to save him if you can’t swim either.
Story 4: In the Aug. 11, 1909 issue of the Edmonds Tribune, an article documented that a man nearly drowned the night before. The article read: “Last evening a man who was apparently inebriated walked off the end to the wharf into the cool waters of Puget Sound. Observers stated that he went under twice before being able to grab one of the pilings. Refusing help, he managed to make his way to shore five minutes later. Soaking wet he was able to walk away on his own accord, a little more sober for his ordeal.”
Story 5: This article appeared in the April 22, 1927 Edmonds Tribune Review. Given the previous article regarding the two older Yost boys, it appears that none of the Yost children knew how to swim.
Throughout the years, there were numerous reports of loggers drowning as they worked the log booms on the Edmonds waterfront or at mills situated on lakes in the area.
Story 6: A front-page May 12, 1910 Edmonds Tribune article outlined the risks loggers took when they did not use the proper safety gear.
“Fred Cramer whose home is near Halls Lake, drown around four o’clock Monday afternoon. He had been employed temporarily by the Hall’s Lake timber company, to work on the log boom on the lake, and did not have caulks on his boots.
“It was told to us that he frequently fell into the water off the boom but always managed to save himself. Just why he was not able to extricate himself in this instance, will probably never be known.”
Category 2: The Edmonds’ jail, police and fire department stories
Throughout the years, there were numerous stories regarding the city jail and escapes from it, as well as life-saving endeavors and heroics of the fire department and city marshals. The following seven articles provide varying accounts of incidents that made front page news.
Story 1: An article documented a June 1911 city council discussion.
Note: This article describes the original city jail.
“A discussion regarding the jail itself was brought to the attention of the council, as the jail was reported to be in a frightfully unsanitary condition. Councilman Bassett worried that anyone arrested and confined there, that said arrested party could have cause for damages against the city. More or less, after humorous discussion it was voted that the jail be thoroughly fumigated, while the bed and bedding be burned. It was to be understood that the marshal would refuse free lodging to wanderers until bad weather this fall.”
Author’s note: In the autumn of 1911, Edmonds City Hall and a new city jail were relocated under the newly completed Edmonds Library in the Carnegie Building.
Story 2: As reported in the Edmonds Tribune Review, October 1911.
“Last Tuesday, J. Price went into George Hunter’s restaurant and ordered a square meal. After finishing the meal, he got up and started out, and when asked to pay for it, he said he had no money. When he was told that didn’t go, and to dig up, he told the waiter to go to a place hotter than Edmonds or even east Yakima. Whereupon Mr. Hunter called the marshal and had him arrested. The meal is going to cost him thirty days in jail.”
Author’s note: Fights and other disturbances in the same time period resulted in small fines and one night in jail. Apparently, not paying for a meal was considered a more serious offence.
Story 3: This story proved that two wrongs did not make a right as a fireman and a police officer both broke the traffic laws and collided at the intersection of Fifth and Dayton. Fortunately, no one was injured.
Story 4: The article below and the follow-up letter to the editor by the defendant appeared in the July 1901 issue of the Edmonds Tribune. As outlined in a previous article, one of Edmonds early ordinances made it unlawful for animals to run and/or apparently fly wild in Edmonds.
Story 5: The following article from Sept. 8, 1910 Edmonds Tribune details actions by the Edmonds fire and public works departments that went seriously awry.
The article was entitled: Sewer has another fit
“The sewer at the foot of George Street suffered another severe attack of constipation last week and after a couple of days of work by the whole department of public works aided by the fire department, the main was finally unplugged, flushed and put back into working order. There were things in the Rogers Building, however, and there is a divergence of opinion as to whether the catastrophe occurred before or after the fire department began shooting a high-pressure stream of water into the sewer. After the water had been forced into the sewer at the corner of First and George Streets, for some time pedestrians along the end of George Street noticed miniature geysers spouting from every crack and crevice of the first floor of the Rogers Building. The fire department was called off and a hurried investigation made. It was found that the stoppage of the sewer had forced sewage up under the Rogers Building and when the fire hose was used to flush the sewer all the sewage and filth that had accumulated along the three streets shot into the ex-saloon rooms. The bar room, wine room and office were flooded and the floor and walls plastered with filth.
“The damage done was not fully realized until Mr. Rogers came to Edmonds Sunday and entered the premises. It was certainly a woeful and smelly sight that greeted him and it will take a heap of soap and a barrel or two of perfume to restore the place to its pristine purity. What with the bursting of sewers and informed prohibitionists, Mr. Rogers is having a strenuous time keeping the place in proper order. However the city is going to pay the bill for cleaning up, the plumbing has been disconnected from the sewer and the pipe plugged up, and now Mr. Rogers is expectantly wondering what will happen next.”
Story 6: A story on the front page of the Nov. 10, 1933 Edmonds Tribune Review documented how penetrable the Edmonds jail was at the time.
Author’s Note: This arrest occurred in a “dry period,” one month before the end of Prohibition (i.e. Dec. 5, 1933).
Story 7: This last article was published in the Edmonds Tribune Review on May 11, 1928. Apparently distracted driving has been a problem for a long time.
Part 2 of “Front-page newsworthy?” will examine articles regarding local inventors and their products and secondly at unusual home accidents that made the front page of Edmonds newspapers.
This article was researched and written by Byron Wilkes. Full credits will be given at the end of part 3.
Those were the days
When you could laugh
At many misdeeds
Not like today when
You have to cry
Thanks for a fun history lesson! I look forward to reading Part 2!!
Great article! For Category 1, Story 1, I think the second article is the more plausible one. It seems unlikely someone would dive into 14 foot water and get their head stuck. The elevated plank would have to be pretty high up!