Historic Hood River
“Away”
9-4-2020
Notes
We have this haunting image and poem from Edna Plog. It looks like she was given the image as a Christmas card in 1916, and attached this poem about death on November 7, 1917. A search of The Hood River Glacier offers this obituary for William Gordon Haskins. The date is a perfect match, and he would have been a classmate of Edna’s as they were born in the same year.
Charlott
Having been born on 17 April 1899, in Norman County, Minnesota he came to reside on the west side of Hood River at the age of 4, then finally moving to the Odell area. He was an exceptional young man, as was involved in various things and very popular amongst his friends.
On August 16th he scaled Mt. Hood with a number of friends and after he returned home became very ill. He was for some time in the Hood River Hospital and then taken to Good Sam in Portland. Returned home, again hospitalized in H. R., returned to Portland where he died. His illness baffled doctors and it was only when an autopsy was performed that it was discovered he had man abcesses in his lungs, thrombosis of the sinus and edema of the brain.
L.E.
Makes you wonder if today's use of radiation could have saved him.
Kyle
Great info, Charlotte, thank you.
L.E.
The newspaper link Arthur posted, is sad with obituary links, but there is one short article that made me chuckle. A guy is sentenced for receiving bicycles stolen by small boys.
nels
What diseases of that day would have caused abscesses of the lung? TB or untreated pneumonia? Would climbing exacerbated or cause the disease?
ArthurB
As a trained internet physician, my diagnosis is high altitude pulmonary edema.
Dale Nicol
Arthur, +1 🙂
L.E.
Interesting diagnosis. I have definitely lost interest in climbing a mountain. Although I probably would not have to worry since my ascent would not be rapid.