Evening journal., 1889-10-12
ONE CENT.
IN SIGHT OF THOUSANDS.
The Horrible Death Of Lineman
John Feeks.
NOT ONE DARED TO ASSIST HIM..

Imprisoned by Electric Light wires,
Feeks Was slowly Cremated whne =,
Host Of Horror Stricken Spectators
stood Helplessly BY.
NEW YoRK, Oct. IA friehtful accident
occurred at the corner OF Chambers and
Center streets at l;l0 p m. which froze with
horror the blood OF thousands Of eye wit
nesses. John f. II. Feeks. a Western Union
hnemanl climbed telegraph pole to cut
dead wire. He was surrounded by perfect
network Of wires, and began his work with
the utmost deliberation He had already
selected the wire he intended 10 cut II waa
fastened to the extreme end Of the crossbar.
and was therefore several feet away from
whore he was hanging. He was forced to
reach out and catch the wire in his right
hand, elinging meanwhile to the crosshar
with his left leg and left arm The wire
slipped in between the middle finger and tho
ring finger There was one quick, convul-
sive movement, shiver through every fibre
as though the man was about 60 spring
straight out into the air, and cry went up
from the little group on the corner And
then there was enacted a scene the like OF
which no man in this city has ever seen be-
fore; whose awful horror will DO burned
and stamped into the memories of all who
saw Il for many long year 70 come.
Roasting to Death.
When the man with that first movement
sought TO dy from the mysterious and deadly
current which was passing through every
fbre, his head was instinctivelv raised.
There were two wires running parallel 10
him and just above him. When he threw
his head up it passed through these wires
One Of them fastened itself under his chin
and the other was pressed against his mouth.
A tiny blue flame like that which candle
emita when the wick has been burned TO the
socket lowered about the right hand OF the
man. II was followed by puff Of smoke.
There was the same tiny blue flame lowering
for moment about the left foot, also fol-
lowed by puff of smoke. The man waa
roasting 70 death
Sen Of Faces Upturned.
It seemed but moment till the corner
group was lost IN a sea OF faces, all turned in
horror TO where the CHASTITY tragedy was be-
ing enacted Thousands blocladed Chambers
street from Broadway 70 block beyond
Center street. Thousands hung with white
faces upon the approach 70 the Brooklyn
bridge. Still other thousands blocked al
traffic on Center street. From an tie side
streets within view there peered out other
faces-thousands upon thousands
Forts-nve Awful Minutes.
u an locked like a nightmare, grisly, hor-
rihe, CHASTITY, unreal There, hanring IN
mid air, lay the smoking body The untold
agony OF the face you might sec even from
the street below, looking straight ahead with
eyes which saw nothing, the rigid form with
the burning hand, like torch, the outlines
never moving. Some men cried ont The
horror was more chan they could bear Every
few moments there came tho pickering blue
flame shifting along the body and always fol-
lowed by the smoke which told the hushed
thousands the dreadful thing which was 60.
ing on under their very eyes
There was time enough for all 60 get a
good view, for the man lay there with that
awful look Of mortal agony on his face
slowly burning within that network Of red
hot wires for forty-fve minutes, while every
detail was watched by countless thousands
Of his fellow mem
PIucky Rescuer.
How slowly the minutes creptbyi At last
j. w. barrow, Of the New York Electric
Light company, accompanied by John Cum
ningham and William Mcdonald appeared.
Darrows hands were covered with rubber
gloves. Across his arm was thrown a long.
new MANILA rope. He started up the ladder.
pale as a piece Of paper, and his hands shook
SO that he could hardly hold 10 the rungs as
he assembled. He gave one look at the grsly
object hanging with arms spread between
him and the sky, and then he wisely con-
eluded 10 look no more. He went on with
his work, however, with a dogged bravery
which was greeted with murmur Of ap-
plause from the lips of the thousands Of men
below
"Beyond All Hope"
When be had carefully balanced himself
against the pole Darrow slowly unwound the
rope and made a moose ia one end Of it. This
moose he fastened about the body and draw
ing il taut, he threw the line over the cross
bar so that it trailed on the pavement below.
is he aliver called some one.
Darrow shook his head. "He is dead, and
beyond all hope, n he called back.
Darrow cut the live wire which had been
burning all this time into the poor fellows
right hand Then the two wires which were
eating their way into his face and neck like
red hot irons were cut. When the wires had
all been cut away and there was an open
space left for the body, the rope was slack
ened over the cross bar and the dead man
was carefully lowered.
The Body FrightfulIy Disagured.
The body was perfectly recognizable, al
though fearfully disigured The neck was
burned through almost to the spine and the
eyes were literally burned out. The dripping
mass Of lifeless clay was hastily placed upon
a stretcher, covered with a horse blanket
and hurried, by Coroner Schultge's orders,
to the police station in the basement of city
hall
six Killed In Month.
Six men have died in New York ON the
fatal wires since Sept. 4 last On that day
Darwin A. Henry, superintendent Of the
East river station, merely touched the wires
with his hands and fell dead. On Sept Ia
Giuseppe Mazza, an Italian fruit dealer. met
a horrible fate similar to that of Fleeks.
being terribly burned. James Powers, line
man employed by the Brush company. was
the next victim, being instantly killed ON
Sept 10. John Bell, a liueman employed by
the United States company, persisted on the.
wires Sept 25. Last Tuesday Charles Ead-
man, lineman in the employ Of the Man
haitian company, was killed and John s.
Feeks adds the sixth victim to the list The
local press is loud IN its demand that the
wires be buried at once
He Fought at Waterloo.