Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-12-27
SQUEEZED TO DEATH.
Horrible Killing of Six Men in an Ex-
cayatiOn in Denver.
A Criminally Negligent Company.
A Shocking Accident.
Special to the Gazette.

Special to the Gazette.
DENNEE, COL, Dec 2G-One of the
most awful accidents that ever occurred
III Denver happened at noon to-
day on Fifteenth street between
fremont street and Court place,
and resulted in the instant death
of five laborers and fatally iniuring an
other. For the past few days the Denver
Gas Company has been eXcavating along
the cable company's track for the pur-
pose of removing section of pipe lying
directly underneath the roadbed running
parallel to the outside rail. A trench
six feet deep had been dug, and in many
places the ground beneath the track had
been undermined. This lay directly be-
meath the track and left absolutely no
foundation whatever beneath it. Pas
sengeTs riding the cable cars had re-
peatedly asserted that the excavation was
extremely dangerous, and the laborers
themselves had been
WARNED OF THE PERIL.
1t had been their custom at the passage
of every car to jump out of the trench
until the car was on firmer ground. They
had done so this morning when the
Broadway car passed, and had
scarcely re-entered the trench when
the calamity occurred. Sudden
ly huge rent appeared which
instantly widened into an immense gap,
and instantly the entire track had ca
reened, landing across the excavation at
an angle of about forty-five degrees. 1t
had parted as clearly as if cleft by some
sharp instrument. The only warning
that had been given was shout when
the huge mass of earth had already
fallen. Eleven men were then i'll the
trench pOwerless to retreat. They
simply lay fiat on their chests,
as the track swayed above
their heads. 1t lodged against the oppo-
site wall of earth, and they easily crowd
ed out their six companions, four of
whom upon hearing the shout of danger
hurriedly attempted to leap from the
trench. Their chests had scarcely
emerged when the track, with tons of
earth, caught them, the rail gradually
SQUEEZING THEM TO DEATH.
Two others received fatal injuries and
were conveyed to the hospital, where one
has since died. For almost an hour after
the accident the bodies OF the dead men
lay piniOned close to the wall of earth so
tightly that all attempts to remove them
were futile. y ghastlier sight could not
be imagined. Men were Immediately set
to work with jack screws and the track
was raised. The dead are:
JOSEPH TRAINER, married, leaves a
wife;
WILLIAM RALEY, married;
n. NJ. WILSON married, large family.
MIKE DILLON, single.
An unknown man, age about forty.
JAMES MCCUEN, badly injured; re-
covery impossible.
No little Indignation is expressed to-
ward the gas company, who are blamed
for the accident, because they neglected
placing props in the excavation.
DENVER, Col. Dee. 20 "A fatal ac-
cident occurred this afternoon on Fiji
teenth street between Fremont and Court
Place which resulted in the instant death
of at least four men and the mortal
wounding of two others. The Denver
gas company had 100 men employed in
eXcavating a ditch SIX feet deep along
side of and under the crack of the cable
car line when suddenly the track for an
entire block fell, crushing the life out of
and imprisOning the men underneath.
Men were Immediately set at work re-
moving the fallen track and four dead
and two badly wounded have been re-
The other men escaped with
more or less bruises. 1t is not yet known
how many more are underneath the
track. The names of the dead and
wounded have not been 0Scprt9inp1