James Herbert Savage |
 "Jim got a car, a model old, and cut it down for kicks." |
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By Catherine Savage Pulsipher I can't help thinking of ol' Jim, who died, upon the hill. We rode the crummie, me and him. along with Red and Bill. We used to fish the canyon creek, about this time of year- And Lord, it almost makes me sick! A'wishing he were here! Us boys, we had a lot fo fun, together, as we grew. We worked and played, out in the sun, and found a lot to do. We used to go to Sunday school, when we were very small. But we would rather fish a pool, than heed the church bells call. Well! Jim grew up, and he was wild; or so the good folks said. But me, I was both meek and mild, but I followed where he led. Until he bought a bucking horse. That was too much for me- I still admired my friend, of course. But I wasn't as wild as he. A railroad came, and then a camp. Said Jim; "Boy! we're in luck. "Let's go to camp, if you are game? They'd let you fall and buck!" I didn't think that I would go, but Jim went up the hill- And when his pay check he did show, I really got a thrill. Jim got a car, a model old, and cut it down for kicks. He made me feel left in the cold. Him working in the 'sticks.' So I just said; "I'll go to camp!" Of course the folks said, "No!" But to me, it was Aladins lamp, so I was bound to go. By now Jim worked out on a bridge, and we rode up the hill. We dropped him off, behind the ridge. I see him smiling still. He waved, just as he always did, as off the locie' rolled- The curving track his figure hid. The fog hung, dense and cold. When next I seen him, he was dead. He tumbled off the plank. I couldn't believe what they had said, that we'd played our last prank. But there he lay, my old pal Jim. He'd never smile again. I couldn't bare to look at him; and went back to the train. They took him out beneath a tarp, and the flat was cold and slick. They lowered him down the incline sharp, going up we got a kick. The flat rolled on, out thru the cuts, and the crummie rolled behind- And none of us could say a word, with his passing, on our mind. They laid him out in the Wildwood church. His funeral wasn't grand. But all the folks who knew him, were waiting there, on hand. There is still a gravestone there, in the cemetary cold- But I see him, with his curly hair. He had just turned 19 years old. Note: I wrote this as a memorial, using Wesley Bloom, as the story teller. He was Jim's pal, they fished and did everything together. Wesley did go to camp, but never returned after... I thought a mention of Jim should be put in should be put in, where they ask for tragic events. James Savage, son of Bert Savage, fell from a high bridge he was working on, above the incline, a short time before the camp closed down. He was killed on the rocks of the cany and he was nine years old at the time. Jim had gone to work in camp after high school, to get money to enter Pullman College. Catherine Savage Pulsipher Photos from the Savage Family Collection via Barb Thompson |
JAMES SAVAGE FALLS TO HIS DEATH WHEN HE SLIPS ON BRIDGE-Birdsview Boy Dies At Clear Lake Camp- Was Graduated This Year From Hamilton High School; Popular Among Students; Funeral Thursday Courier Times, Sedro-Woolley
Slipping off the Mill Creek Bridge, which is under construction at Clear Lake, Camp No. 1, James Savage, 19 year-old son of Mr. & Mrs. Bert Savage of Birdsview, hurtled 80 feet through the air, striking head foremost on a ledge of solid rock, crushing his skull and breaking every bone in his body. The tragedy occurred Tuesday morning about 9 o'clock, when Savage, who was firing the donkey, slipped and fell.Despite his terrible injuries, he lived for a few minutes while fellow workmen carried him away from the spot where he struck. He was rushed to the Clear Lake Lumber Company's railway with all possible speed, and every effort was made to save him, but he died before the hospital was reached. Funeral services for the boy were held today at Birdsview hall with the Rev. Levi Smith of Lyman in charge, interment being made in the cemetery at Hamilton. Friends of the Savage family and many of James's schoolmates attended the funeral and gave many lovely flowers in token of their love and sympathy. "Jim", as his friends and family call him, is survived by his parents and five sisters, Miss Laura Savage, who is a nurse and who lives in Seattle, Mrs. Clifford Sharp of [Helen Savage] Kemmebeck, Alaska, and Rita, Dorothy and Alta, who live at home in Birdsview. Jim was graduated from the Hamilton high school in 1924, where he was prominent in athletics, particularly in basketball and football, and other school activities, being one of the best-liked and most popular members of the senior class. He had been employed periodically for the past four years by the Clear Lake Lumber Company, and was working at the time of his death at the camp, which is located just across the river from Lyman. |
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