River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1889-10-17
IN AN AWFUL SHAPE.

Death Comes to Lineman in New York
City Killed While Attending to His
Dutles-IIis Body Il FrlghtfuIIy Burned
by the wires Before fl Can Bo Taken
Down.
NEW YORK, Oct IA crowd of people
at the corner of Cepter and Chambers
streets witnessed horrisying scene Fri
day At the southwest corner of Chambers
and Center streets there is a telegram
pole fifty feet high, with double set of
cross arms on il extending east and west
and north and south On these arms are
telephone and telegraph wires and nine
electric-light wires.
just before o'clock D. m two linemen
of the Western Union Telegraph COMPANY
were sent to cut down six dead wires
which were or the pole They climbed up,
and at about l:i5 o'clock one of them.
John Feeks, was seen to be falling by
fireman in the engine house beside the
pole. The other lineman got down
the pole as rapidly as possible and ran
away. He was evidently badly scared and
no one tried to stop him. As Feeks fell he
struck on one OF the cross-arms with his
head and one hand on the electric-iight
wires The current was completed In an
instant the body stiffened The head was
raised, aud the whole form seemed
TO have been cast ~ an iron mold
There was no movement The
man was dead His leg remained
over the cross-bar, but his feet, chin and
hands were elevated, as though he had
suffered mortal agony. In an instant the
flesh was burned and turned red A horri-
bic fungus Appeared upon his throat and
wrists He had not taken hisrubber gloves
with him, and the oversight had led to his
a. -
the people below.
For half an hour the stiffened body re-
manned in the network of wires Crowds
poured from all the streets For fifteen
minutes the horse-cars threaded their wav
through the crowd Then a Gordon OF
police appeared and all travel was
stopped The Mortified multitude gazed
at the body in the network
of wires The face and hands deepened
into livid hue A ladter was taken from
the engine house and e evated to the fatal
network The ladder remained there fifteen
minutes before man bold enough 20 ascend
1t was found When he appeared his hands
and arms were incased in long rubber
gloves lie carried an immense pair OF
shears Slowly he assembled the ladder.
Carefully he picked his way through the
wires until he reached the fourth
cross-piece Then he drew his leg
over the cross-piece, resting his left
foot upon the cross-piece below His
leg shook like man with the ague. Care
fully he raised mis- right hand and snapped
a wire near the dead mans face AS the
wire fell the crowd below scat
tered In an instant sparks of fire, fol-
lowed by puffs of smoke, flew from the
dead mans nose and from his calcined
wrists. A second wire fell curling among
its fellows along Chambers street. third
wire was cut The end few from the nest
to the northwest corner of Chambers and
Center streets striking policeman on the
head and curling him up with pain. The
fourth wire fell to the street
Then the livid hand dropped, the foot
resting upon another wire. Another snip
and the elevated head fell limp and life
less, exposing the ghastly features to those
upon the east side OF Center street
Before the cutting a rope had been
passed over a cross-piece and care
fully knotted around the dead mans
body. Meanwhile a second volunteer
had mounted to the erOss-p pieces and with
his assistance the body was lowered to the
ground. The crowd was convulsed with
horror A smell OF burned flesh pervaded
the air. The whole side of the mans face
was burned away, exposing his teeth His
wrist was cut to the bone and the blood was
dripping from both face and wrist Cor
oner Schultze took charge of the body.