The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1879-05-28
FALLING IN AN ELEVATOR.
THE BRE4KING OF 4 DUMMY ROPE IN
THE 81. OMER HOTEL.
Four Women Squeezing into . Box that
WINS Intended TO Carry Only an Ordinnri-
~ Heavy Trunk - a Frightfui Disaster.

W omen Squeezing nto boA Nnht
wns Intended 10 Carry Only an Ordinnri-
~ Heavy Trunk a Frightfui Disaster.
At o'clock every evening bell is rung
in the st. Omer Hotel in Sixth avenue. near
Twenty-third street to call the employees to
supper. when this bell was rung on Monday
evening" four OF the women who work in the
hotel were in the sixth story. Mt the top Of the
house. Their sleeping rooms are there These
women were Katy CallaRhan and Nellie Brown.
chambcrmaids; and Anna Fogarty and Mary
Jane McGinnis. scrub women. They are all
young women. and were in n mood that led
them to run the risk of a ride down stairs in tho
slender trunk elevator rather than walk down
the six flights Of stairs. They had nil been pre-
viousy forbidden to ride on the elevator but its
location in the rear Of the hou,e made it likely
that their dsobedicnce would not be known.
The elevator Is merely dummy running up
and down mn ordinary hoistway. and rugged as
are the hosts in nearly all downtown store
houses. The shaft through which it passes is
something moro than sixty feet long, two
feet and half deep. and Ave feet broad.
Tho dummy Is made to lt this shaft and is
about the height Of man. It's simply three
sided wooden box. with floor and n covered
top. Four women can Just squeeze into 1t. The
main rope is lashcd to its roof and passes over
n barrel at the top Of the shaft A weight
balances the dummy and hoist ropes hang in
sidc the shaft. Cathnrinc Callaghan. Nellie
Brown. Mary Jane McGinnis. and Annie
Fognity squeezed into the dummy. and Nellie
Brown engineered 1t down by pulling the hoist
rope. She must have pulled the check rope Mt
the Nth story landing; for the dummy was
heard 10 stop there second. Then something
snapped with report like a pistol. and the
dummy with its heavy load shot down the shaft
with "A whrr that did not seem to occupy u sec
ond's time. The cooks rushed to the kitchen
door. which II opposite the mouth OF the SHAFT
in the basement. and We're just In time to see
| like the stroke of a trip hammer. Katy Gala
ghan and Annie Fogarty were thrown out. on
! their faces. and in such a manner that when
| the dummy rcbounded their legs fell under II.
! The great wooden box bounded ten feet into the
air. then the rope snapped, and the box iell
! again with heavy noise. this time upon the
| limbs Of the prortratc women. Nellie Brown
aud Mary Jane MeGinnis were thrown out up
/ on the bodies OF their mangled companions
! when the dummy fell the second time.
! The proprietor, Mr.. Carpenter heard the
Whlrt ana craS, ol the elalilhg i'oN anu hhsieneu
down stairs. He ordered beds brought down,
! and the women were laid upon them. two Of
/ them in tn" laundry and two In the servants
/ dining room. Mrs. Carpenter did whatever
! could be done for the suffering women and her
| husband ran 10 the New York Hospital and no.
! titled tho surgeon of wnnt had occurred In
! ten minutes. DR.. Knapp. who was in charge OF
/ the hospital. reached the hotel With his assist
ants and an ambulance. The fractured limbs
| attended TO before the patients were removed %
! the hospital. Katy CallaChan wis hurt most
| seriously. She suffered compound fracture
" the bones ot both feet. Her spine is seriously
| Injured and she Is not expected 10 live. She
was one NJ tho women upon whose feet
j tho elevator fell after It's rebound. She
| was a faithful servant. and by her industry
a house and lot Mary Jane McGinnia
| has no bones fractured but suffers from a very
| bad spinal injury. She may recover. She had
| been at work IN the St. Omer Hotel ten days
| only but was well recommended and was be-
| hcve-l to be faithful and industrious. Hell
! father Is the gatekeeper at Calvary Cemetery
| Annie Fogarty was the other woman upon
| whose limbs tho elevator fell. Tho bones o
| both her feet are fractured and she has pain
! ful scalp wound. She may recover. Her peo-
| ne are said 10 be in comfortable circumstances
! Her hruthrr-in- law has "a MI X store Just above
| the hotel IN Sixth avenue. Nellie Browns left
leg il fractured, her scalp is torn. and her HANDS
! are burned terribly 10y the ropes. which she cv-
| identity held in an endeavor To stop the downfall
! of tho elevator Nellie Brown is said TO be a
! very bright intelligent girl. and is also Of re-
/ spectacle origin. 4 near relative Of hers II said
| o. he the Cuici OF Police IN Natertown. All the
women are very badly bruised about their
/ bodies. and their condition is such that no one
! II allowed to see them.
one of these women was caught riding on the
! elevator about week ago. She had employed
! hy the hand ropes while she rode in l.. The
! proprietor saw hrr ana made her get out nj the
! first landing He had often before that ordered
that no one he permitted To- ride in the box. The
| elevator Is intended 10 carry only a weight o
two hundred pounds. which is what the largest
| TRUNKS usually weigh when full OF clothing. BN
| lis tall the elevator box utterly shat
| tered. The flooring wa broken out. the roo
| parted in the middle, and the heavy wire from
| which the box depended WAS broken close to the
TOP q the box. II was probably worn consider
| weight Of the four women who met with the
accident on Monday