New-York tribune., 1885-09-19
KIILED IN THE AQUEDUCT
u,rRr.Ep TO THEIR DEATH IN SHAFTS.


,,n,xc on A FILLED BUcKEr-ToNs OF ROCK FALL.
T,,o accidents occurred early yesterday on the
n acneduct which resulted In tne i1ss 0i Lt thaut
p"s The first one at open cut NO ~ %; apo1V
three miles ract The rock that is blasted out is
a;sed nv n derrick in scale pans 10 tue .op VI & onS
cut Twenty-Five feet Inefe a,s asber m descends At
oan M Yesterday pan had been filled win Two
tons of rock aud had been raised about twen eit. ~
,nd Vent crashing TO the bottom. where Patrick
C;,S tSan S0" ace forty,five. and John Butler age
twenty-five. stood preparing 10 n0der the load
PAL pai,' ,os crushed to death. Collins was strnck py
an aloe of the pan and knocked down, some Oh tos
rock falling over him hlS oafs w of tbe men had
nnv friends at the work. but was learned @ that
Bn,ler was from MISUNDERSTANDING ahG ,Ia a.
Collins had brother Dennis Soiilhs, ,iysha ot ot
I;ttie Fails. N Y. Coroner T.. >. Mltcheil; @ on
Yonkers. after empannelling jury adJourneo 'ne
sscnnd accident was at shaft No. T. about FIVE
miles north of Tarrytow and is on the part Oh tie
Tork contracted for by Brown, Howard 20;
Ti;s shaft is 1863 feet deep. About loU leet oI
tnnoei work has been CON pleted each way from lne
shaft but this is not far enough TO warrant .e @ t
of with safety vala6 tor Ien bae and carried up
IN ;ron buckets The strictest orders are gwen oy
Sbe contractors and their foremen that no one st -
vide mn or down OF these buckets Wncu ~ M, 70
inadai' or when II contains drills or tools Inc
reason for this is that when loaded tne outho. tht
thrown out of balance and whrls AROUND ~ Ina;
Is hpt e " m~ catch in the side and throw of.
Yesterdav afternoon at o'clock tSo drill machine
helpers William McGrothy and JSha nI1s n be he tnb
regard of this rule put number OF aES M drs in i' wa
and got on themselves. One OF ,ne Hriiis MaS as
twelve feet long, and it was ased 10 's ve the
signal TO start Neither had lamp or could see the
other Both stood on the edge OF & 5he pdS oIcf1 bnt
II is snpuosed that McGrothy was holding the ione
drill instead His weight on the upper emu oi vic VIC
drill caused it TO give at the bottom as ~ was OILY @
ll. md thrpN
of his body over the edge OF the bucket; inns
oaused the bucket to sway from SIDE 20 slde; anu
the end Of the drill n o,t 1 him hanging ON
horizontal bar made by the stee. aril t enten@hs T
from the bucket to the SIDE OF tne SiaS: ~ os me
bucket kept ascending, and by tins time !, was was Ep
40 feet McGrothy did not keep his hold iong. LOT
the drill gradually bent and he slipped on anu wen
crashing down through 2O 1eet OF atep tp
bottom where he was picked up lew lHhhuVo' iaVei
by his comrades mangled and bleeding, % oot off
Sinner during this time had managed 10 get on on
from the bucket and into one of the inches maue py
the twelve in ;h timbers with which the INSIDE Oh
the tunnel is framed. The tmbers are placed a Iew
inches apart and form little shelf aoont ten Iodes %
wide Here Sinner hung and cried Justify for hep:
His cries were heard and the ascent oil tne ouckeI
stopped A man went down and rlghted tue
bucket It was r Tsen SweGsa eoso ana At the cotton
the body of Mcjrothy was taken IN the nucket anu anu
carried to the surface. Coroner Mitchell was sum
verdict that .McGrothy came to his death from con-
cussion of the brain caused by falling TO the D0tto
pf shaft No. z, and that his 1ail was tie rooueV
an accident caused by his disobedenee OF the
orders of his employers in riding in bucket wulcn
Contained tools McGrothy had given the assumed
name of William Brady when he went to the
aqueduct to work. but to some OF the woTkmen ne
admitted that his real name was william Mc9TotI!,
and that his parents live in Scotland. lie was
engaged to be married to young woman at south
Orange n. j. The contractors made arrangements
to have him buried at their expense o
To reporter A. J. Mclean. of Brown, Howard @
Co, said: 1t is the hardest kind OF work 10 get
our men TO obey the simplest kind OF regulations
made for their safety. Not an accident has nap
penod on our line that is not directly attributed 10
the mems own carelessness and their refusal 10 De
guided by our experience and obey our regulations
We have had to discharge men for no o'her reason \
than periling their own lives by riding on hIed
buckets and on the rims of buckets. When man man
il ne to rhe work he will be very CAREFUL but alter
week or wo he gets careless as any old min er'