The Evening critic., 1884-01-29
HOW WILLIAM BROWN DIED.
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mOny Taken by the Coroner.
Coroner Patterson to-day held an inquest
over the remains of William p. Brown, or
Miner, the coloied man who was killed in
the water works shaft.
The following jurors were sworn Fred
erick Schneider, William Calow, Fred N.
Brandenburg, +. A. Bonanchler, Leonard
Il. Williams and George Il. Lancaster.
Mr. VIM. Noe, the superintendent of the
work on tho shaft, was the first witness.
lie testified that the blast was made about
$40, and the accident occurred about ten
minutes later. Ono of his men descended
after the blast and discovered Brown in his
porilous position. Witness was not at the
shaft at the time Of the blast did not know
that the blast caused displacement Of the
timbers heard the men in the shaft
Crying Out for Help.
and Immediately threw rope to them. One
man had gotten part the way out Of tho
hole without any assistance, by means OF
the ladder, and the rope being thrown to
him he passed it under the shaft to tho
other three imprisoned workmen, who
were by this means rescued. As soon as
possible witness and another man were low
cred to where Brown was and saw that IL
was impossible to do anything toward
rescuing him. Witness said he went back
and got brace, nut no one could DO found
who would 90 down the shaft with him.
The crowd ut this time around the shaft
was very great and he had to summon the
police to keep them back. 1t was between
s and o'clock when the help arrived on
the scene.
Nothing Was Being Done ia the
Meantime.
When the five miners who had been
p1 arrivp1 fbny 1pepnudrd iutn tho
shaft and hoisted out three buckets of ma.
terial where they thought Brown was To-
Gated. These men, after working au hour
or so, came out and said they would not
work any longer unless the shaft was
bracCd. Part of Browns body was covered
with several feet of material. Brown kept
Appealing 90 he Taken Out.
and talked up to 9 o'clock Sunday morn
ing, when no said, Lower the bucket
These were his last words. All through
the night Brown continued to ask to have
tho water pumped out as it was coming in
on him. 1t was about IL o'clock when the
brace was put in and work resumed by the
miners.
After the bracing was finished, the work
of excavation was resumed. The body was
reached about 3 o'clock p. IN.
In answer to q juror the witness said the
man was not drowned, but died from in
juries received
Witness did not know that two men not
employees in the works volunteered to go
down and rescue Brown in half an hour
All the men that could conveniently oper-
ate in the shaft were put to work after the
accident. Witness said the story that
Brown cries could be heard two squares of
was absurd.
Lieutenant L. w. Symons, of the Engi-
neer's Office, testified that he had many
times inspected the shaft. He regarded
the shaft as properly curved. He believed
such accidents likely to occur in any such
work even under the most careful manage
ment. The shaft was built in tho very
best manner--in fact, he had never seen
better work Of its character anywhere.
John Parom, colored testified that he
was working alongside of Brown, and left
him to come up and assist at blasting went
work removing stone; had to stop, because
the earth commenced caving in.
Pieces OF Rock as Large rs His
Head
fell all around him. There were six men
at work when the accident happened. Him
self and comrades did not stop work for If
teen minutes before the accident. Wit
ness leg was caught under some earth. He
had all he could do to save himself from
death. He was lifted up by means Of q
rope.
Witness was here asked If he went down the
shaft after the accident aud replied Good
Lord, no. Deed / had no business down
dere. l had the trimmers after de acct
dent. thought was goner.'
Continuing, the witness said: After he
struck the ladder he did not even look
down the shaft. He wanted to go home as
fast as possible and tell his folks how glad
he was to be saved. Witness always re-
garded the shaft as perfectly safe place to
work in.
Witness said he remembered more when
he was in the shaft than he did after no
| got out. When in he frequently said, lord
have mercy, Pm goner."
DR.. d. +. Hartigan, who made the ex.
animation of the body, was sworn, and
| testified that the deceased died from
Congestion OF the Heart and lungs
| He had frequently made post-mortem ex
aminations on drowned mon, and there wa
| not the least evidence TO show that Brown
had died from drowning.
Thomas Creton, foreman of the shaft
| made the blast He fired the blast at 5:15
Witness said it was not the rule to inspect
| the shaft after blast. The men were
| allowed to 20 right down and begin work
| In answer to the Coroner the witness said
| he thought it would be
| A Wise PrecautiOn 10 Make an In
| spectiOn
| after each blast, but it was not the custom
| 1t was always the case to send u coed, re
liable man down to operate the pump i'm
mediately after blasting
| Never knew more than four feet oil
water to be in the shaft at time. The
pump was in good condition and did its
regular service in pumping out tho water
| after the accident. After the accident tn,
main office Of tho contractors in George
town was called up by telephone to sem
material to be used in rescuing Brown
This
Did Not Arrive for an Hour and n
Half or Two Hours.
Witness later said the material to b
used in bracing did not arrive before
o'clock, which would make it three hour
from the time OF the accident. Witness did
not know of any volunteers who otieret
their services TO go down in the shaft
Didn't believe there were any. The worl
stopped about o'clock Sunday morning
for an hour and a-half, the men giving as
reason for stopping that they were "tiret
out"
Mr.. Noe was recalled, and testified tina
the work of rcscuing Brown was continues
steadily, with the exception Of the time |
took to change forces.
Mr.. John V. Quackenbush, one of tn
contractors, was called. He knew that tn
shaft was purposely constructed and tn
u 4