Trosper book 2 – The Tumwater We Thought We Knew – Story #38

Advice from an anonymous historic source:

If you find a machine that will cut your work load in half, it is not ethical to buy two of them.

 “Fingers Missing in Tumwater”

From a panel displayed in the Pre-Prohibition Olympia Brewing Company plant in the early 1900s

From a panel displayed in the Pre-Prohibition Olympia Brewing Company plant in the early 1900s

             Many of us have heard about “finger sandwiches,” “finger pointing,” and “finger bowls,” but in our Tumwater history research we came across a story from the Morning Olympian, April 2, 1909 that referenced “missing fingers.”

            The photo included was taken of an artifact in the Schmidt House archives. You’ll notice that the Olympia Brewing Company made it a special point to emphasize plant safety for its workers, even giving employees the right to refuse work with tools, equipment, or in places that they deemed dangerous, even if their foreman or management paid no attention to the situation. Despite this admirable company policy, accidents happened.

            The headline from the newspaper read “Three Tumwater Men ‘Shy’ Fingers”. The article continued:

“Edward Heye, Al Sonnenberg and Fred Hahn, all interested in Tumwater in one way or another, are spending a part of their time sympathizing with each other, each having suffered the loss of a finger within the past few days.

“E. B Heye of this city, engineer at the Olympia Brewery lost the second finger on his left hand at the first joint. He got it caught in the valve of a Corliss engine, cutting it off.

“Al Sonnenberg, brewer at the Brewery had one finger on his left hand smashed so badly that it had to be amputated. He was at work in the brewery when in some manner his hand was caught between two large beer kegs, smashing the second finger.

“Fred Hahn of Tumwater, employed by A. H. Chambers in his meat market in this city, caught his right hand in the sausage machine cutting one of the fingers off at the second joint.”

            History shows us that one of the most dangerous jobs was working in the timber industry. Railroad work was also high on the danger list. Workplace safety has always been a concern for every business. The best employers, such as the Schmidt family of the Olympia Brewing Company, make employee safety a primary concern.

            I suppose you could say this is a “slice of life” story from our heritage.