Accidents or DeathsAccidents or Deaths
In Whatcom County, WA
Girl Loses Life; Struck By Train; Companion Safe
Reva Hamilton, 15, Fails to Outrace Train When Trapped on Trestle Here; Pauline Fredricks Reaches Safety.
Reva Hamilton, 15, a Bellingham high school student living at 3318 Bennett Avenue, met tragic death Tuesday at 7:40 p.m. when she was struck by a Great Northern south-bound passenger train locomotive on the "Little Squlicum" creek trestle, just west of the Forrest Furniture Mfg. Company plant. Pauline Fredericks, 15, Whatcom Junior high school student and companion of the Hamilton girl, escaped probable death when she reached a saftey platform on the trestle with a fraction of a second to spare. Miss Fredericks lives at 2908 Patton Street.
The girls had eaten dinner at the Hamilton home, and had then gone for a walk to the beach. Returning, they reached the trestle, and Reva, glancing at her watch, said she knew of no train at that hour, according to the story told by Miss Fredericks. They were only on the trestle a short distance, the Fredricks girl said, when she glanced around and heard and saw the passenger train a short distance behind them.
TALKING ABOUT PICNIC
They had been talking about a picnic they planned for Sunday, the girl said. Both made a dash for the safety platform near the center of the trestle and Miss Hamilton, who was slightly behind her companion, cried out: "Run for your life, Pauline."
The Fredericks girl jumped to the safety platform as the locomotive struck Reva, throwing her off the trestle into the creek bottom forty or fifty feet below, according to the story of the surviving girl told police. The train stopped a short distance form the scene of the accident and a call was made for a city ambulance. The girl was still alive but died a few minutes after reaching the hospital.
The engineer of the south-bound train was Frank Little; the conductor, Charles Jordan.
NO INQUEST
Dr. W. A. Hulbush, the coroner, said Wednesday noon that an inquest was unnecessay.
Reva Hamilton was the daughter of Benjamin Hamilton and she had lived with her father here since she was 2 years of age. Other surviving relatives are the grandparents, Mrs. Marjorie Hamilton, city, and Mr. and Mrs. Rufus Snow, City.
Funeral services will be held from the Bingham-Dahlquist parlors Friday at 3 p.m. Interment will follow in Woodlawn Cemetery.
1994, probably the Bellingham Herald
County Man Identified After Saturday Fatality
A 65-year old Pole Road resident was electrocuted during an accident Saturday afternoon in which a boom truck struck a 7,200-volt high tension power line in the 4300 block of Y Road.
Elbert "Al" Bynon, Sr., 65, of 2033 E. Pole Road, died at the scene of the accident, said Deane Sandell, chief criminal deputy with the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office.
A second man, Richard Lane, 24, of 5868 Slakanum Way, Bellingham, was taken to St. Joseph Hospital, where he was treated for electrical shock and later released, said a hospital spokeswoman.
Bynon and Lane were working for the ALRT Corp., repairing logging equipment, Sandell said.
Lane was operating a boom truck, moving metal hydraulic lines while Bynon stood nearby, directing the work, when the truck apparently came in contact with the power line, he said.
The man operating the boom was thrown from the truck while Bynon suffered a fatal shock, Sandell said. The accident occurred shortly before 1 p.m.
Bellingham Herald, March 25 1991
Man Killed As Boom Bumps Into Power Line
A man was killed Saturday when a boom truck he was operating bumped into a high voltage electrical power line on a logging road in the 4300 block of Y Road, near the intersection of the Mount Baker Highway. Whatcom County Sheriff's officers were withholding the man's name of Saturday, pending notification of next of kin.
A Second man in the boom truck was injured and hospitalized, apparently in good condition, sheriff's officials said. The truck apparently bumped into a 115,000-volt Puget Power electrical line between noon and 1 p.m. Saturday. The jolt traveled down the boom truck and killed the man at the base of the truck.
Medics attempted to resuscitate the man but couldn't revive him. The man was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.
The other man was in the basket at the top of the boom, officers said.
Puget Power officals said the men were not employees of that company.
No other details were available.
Bellingham Herald, March 24 1991
Courage Rewarded- Six-year-old Tommy Snow, who was seriously burned about the face, hands, and arms when his South Side home caught fire early New Year's morning, proudly wears a small-sized police hat presented him by local Officers. Walter Calhoun and Ray Vollrath. It was reported that last week, when the oggicers were in his room at St. Joseph's Hospital, Tommy began crying when a nurse was to inject a hypo needle. The policemen asked the boy if he would like a police hat and badge. Tommy did. And then took the needle without a whimper. He holds the badge in his hand. When Tommy is discharged several months from now, the officers will give him a ride in a prowl car. Tommy has shown steady improvment and he is out of danger- Herald, 1954
Boy Painfully Burned As Fire Damages Home- Six-year-old Tommy Snow suffered painful first and second degree burns during the first hour of 1954 when his family home was severly damaged by fire. James Snow, the boy's father, pulled him through a window of their house at 1120 23rd St., to save him from flames which awakened the sleeping family. Assistant Fire Cheif Ken Sines said the alarm occurred at 12:40 a.m., after Snow, his wife and child were awakened by the blaze. It apparently began from an overheated stove pipe located in the kitchen. Unable to go through the firey kitchen to reach his son's bedroom, the father ran around the house and broke into the room by a window. Fire leaped into the boy's room, and injured the youngster about the face, arms and legs- Herald
Late Bulletin: Pat Snow Killed in Vietnam
A Prosser boy, Earl Patrick (Pat) Snow, 20, was killed in Vietnam this week, according to word recieved by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Richard L. Snow. The family received a telegram Tuesday advising tham that their son was missing in action and a telegram later the same day confirming his death. Pat was a member of the regular army which he joined shortly before his graduation in June of 1968. He had been in Vietnam for five months, according to his parents. 1969, newspaper unknown.
Marine Shoots Buddy in Leg.
Private Raymond L. Johnson, Co., D., 1st Bn., Marine regiment, 3rd marine division, was slightly injured yesterday morning when a .45 caliber pistol was accidentally discharged by Pfc. Lewis W. Snow of the same company.
Pfc. Snow drew his weapon from the armory prior to going into the field yesterday morning. While performing a routine inspection of his pistol, he accidentally discharged the weapon. The bullet struck a mattress, was deflected by a steel buck railing and struck the victuim in the left leg.
The bullet passed through the left leg into Private Johnson's right thigh. However, medical authorities said no serious injury resulted.
An investigation is now being conducted by military authorities. (Newspaper and Date unknown)
Ambulance Drivers to Sponsor Dane to Help Out Young Family
Ambulance drivers concern for a patient doesn't always end with the ride to the hospital.
At least not in the case of a 20-year old Bellingham woman, Mrs. Eddie Marsh, who suffered a stroke 49 days ago while giving birth to a baby.
And that's why the Yellow Cab drivers are sponsoring a benefit dance Friday in Vasa Hall, 1410 Cornwall Ave. They want to aid Mrs. Marsh, who has been in a coma for 41 days in a Seattle hospital, where she was rushed by ambulance following her stroke.
Baby Doing Fine
According to drivers Herbert Harwood and Jim Lucas, the baby is doing "just fine" but Mrs. Marsh, the former Darla Bartholomew was taken off oxygen only last Sunday, while still unconscious.
How long she will be that way nobody knoes, but in the meantime her husband, a bus driver on the Bellingham to Ferndale route, must pay $48 daily for her care in addition to other doctor bills. But the dance Friday is expected to help out. The drivers, who have already sold more than 300 tickets, hope at least 1,000 will be sold by the time the Alaska Tones start their music at 9 p.m.
Ticket Delivery
Tickets will even be delivered, simply by calling Regent 4-43322. Tickets will also be sold at the door.
Bellingham Herald, Wed., November 26 1958
