Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1876-09-04
ANOTHER INNING ACCIDENT.
Shocking Succession 'sf Fatalities
ct the Dayton.--Another Faulty
Cable.

Scarcely had. the shock which tn,
community received at the announce
ment Of Wilson's tragic death dies
away before another still more awful
accident was reported from the sam,
unfortunate mine. On Friday eve.
ming W. F. Wilson WAS Kill cd by the
parting Of defective cable, and The
following morning a new cable was
put upon the reel and was being
tsrred, when by some means not clear
it also gave way and cage that was
attached to il sped down the shaft
with terrible momentum. Charles
Derby, one of Ave miners at work in
the bottom OF the shaft, was struck
and instantly killed. Richard Mitch
ell was also struck by the descending
cage, but escaped with but some
hesh wounds and general bruises
Derby's body was horribly mangled.
1t was brought to the surface by
companion workmen tied up in a
blanket, and when the bundle Was
opened sight was presented such
as is seldom experienced. The re-
mains were plainly those of a human
being, but whether all the parts of
one man or the indiscnminate parts
of two were piled there no one could
tell. Some additional remains were
brought up afterwards. Mitchell
had meanwhile been conveyed to
Gold Hill, being informed by the
attending surgeons that he was not
dangerously injured. Death must
have been instantaneous to Derby
and therefore painless.
Derby WAS highly esteemed by
this community, aud was young
man of industry and temperate hab-
las. His age was "a years. He left
brother who lives in Virginia, and
who came down on receipt of the
sorrowful news quite heart-hroken
and with eyes blinded in tears. The
remains of the deceased were placed
in coffin and conveyed to tue
Masonic Hall, where they rested un-
til yesterday afternoon, when they
were followed TO the Gold Hill rail-
road depot by the Miners Union
and the Odd Fellows They were
forwarded to California to relatives
last night.
THEORY OF THE ACCIDENT
At the time OF the accident men
were tarring the cable that had
been put in place of the one that
broke the day before. An old cage.
withou, the safety appliance, was
attached TO the cable To keep i;
steady and to serve until the cage
that was injured by the previous
accident coui,l be repaired. There
was nothing on the cage. api how
it could become detached from the
cable is mystery. The most
plausible theory is that it got caught |
in the guides as it was being
slowly lowered down and that The
men an the surface. having no
means of finding out whether i. was
caught or not. payed out the cable
on top II it, When the weight OF
the cable thus piled up was >utii |
cieui II free the cage. 1t hot down
like lightning until the slack of the |
cable was consumed. when there |
was a sudden check The moment.
I'm Of the cage. suppos ng it To
have couple Of hundred feet run.
would be sufficient. i, seems. Ia
snap anv cable Something had TO |
give The clevis pulled off. and
the cage went on its deadly mis-
sion. H.'w the cage caught in the |
guides is hard to explain. The
shat, that morning had been care
fully examined and was fnnnd to be
in good order. About five hundred |
feet Of cable had been tarred and
vas in the shaft. A coron.r's jury |
will investigate these things to day.