Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1879-05-30
Instant Death.

DANGERS I.JJRKs EVERYWHERE-AL LADY
CRUSHED IN A CHICAGO HOTEL ELE-
yATOR.
A horrible accident occurred in the Ire
mont House at 11.30 O'Clock Friday night.
A party of ladies and gentlemen, who had
lust come in from one of the theatres, were
standing in the waiting room to the eleva-
tor entrance chatting and utterAng their
good-byes for the night. There. were a
lew persons present who took no part in
the conversation. They we're strangers
on their way to their respective apart
ments. AS the elevator struck the land
ing two OF three persons withdrew from
the waiting room and passed into the hall
way leadi. to the office.
Nine persons entered the elevator. Three
or four of these were ladies. Among these
were Mr.. Henry Lightner and wife, of
Peoria, ILL.,. and Mrs. Straut, wife of the
capitalist and railroad director. The ele-
vatOr boy. whose name is Foster, was told
to stop at the third floor to allow Mr.. and
Mrs. Lightner to step out.
The boy stopped the elevator, opened
the door and stepped out. Mrs I4ightner
arose from her seat first, and, preceding
her husband, attempted to step Qua upon
the floor. AT that juncture the elevator
began to descend. Instantaneous with
the movem ent of the elevator Mis-. Light
ner lost her footing Oh the edge OF the
floor and slipped downward. The boy,
who had sc Zed the rope and endeavored
to arrest TIL movement, let go his grasp
just in tim, to Witud law his arm from the
aperture. Mrs. Lightn er, though her body
as already described, had fallen partially
into the elevator, was
CAUGHT BY THE aEAD AND SHOULDERS
between the edge Of the floor and the arch
of the elevator opening.
For a moment only It seemed as ii the
elevator, clicked as it was with human
life, must come to a StandStill, but the
frail head and shoulders of the poor victim
yielded to the cruel crush, and, as the
, sickening snap of bones was heard, the
machine continued to descend, but in q
jerky and spasmOdic way. The head OF
the lady appeared to be held between the
arch of the elevator opening and the wall,
for, after the first and second doors had
been passed in the descent, the body was
apparently dangling, the feet not quite
touching the floor.
In time-though the period seemed an
age to the Mortified and helpless spectators
the elevator struck the landing. and at
that instant the body of Mrs. Lightner
dropped Imply through her husbands out
stretched arms upon the floor. The hus-
band, uttering the most piteous lamenta-
lions, lifted the mutilated head of his wife
to his bosom, and caught the torrent of
life-blood that gushed from her face. From
the moment Of the ENHANCEMENT in the
doorway not cry or sound of distress es-
capped the lady's lips. AS the elevator
struck the landing, and the mangled body
fell upon the floor, there was
A CoNvULsIvE MOVEMENT
of the chest and shoulders, and the victim
settled into the peacefulness of death. DIR.
Eldridge, who had been one OF the party
that had separated but moment before,
and who was still in the office when the
fact of the accident was announced, made
"a hasty examination and pronounced life
extinct. Mr.. Lightner, who was over
whelmed by the sudden bereavement, and
whose lamentations awakened the pro-
ioundest sympathy in the bystanders, is a
banker and very prominent citizen OF
! Peoria. Mrs. Lightner was nearly sixty
years of age. She was the mother of sew
eral grown-up sons and daughters.
1t IS difficult to locate the responsibility
for the accident. The elevator had ap
pareRtly come to a standstill before the
boy in charge stepped through the door
He declares that be observed it to be de-
scending and seized the rope, but was I'M
able to stop it. 1t is barely possible that
some one upon rising from the seat un-
consciously caught hold of the rope and
started the elevator downward. This
however, is the merest conjecture. After
the accident, the elevator was run up and
down several times, and was subjected tc
The closest scrutiny, and was found to be
jim perfect order.