The record-union., 1891-11-13
CRUSHED TO DEATH.
FATAL ACCIDENT AT THE TELE-
GRAPH HILL QUARRY.
One Man Killed and Another Fatally
Injured by the Fall of an I'M
mense Mass of Rock.
Special to the RECoRD-UNIoN.

SDStidl W lIl0 IGEGOtsI-UNION.
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 12.-To-day an
other fatal accident was added to the al
ready long list that is connected with the
construction Of San Francisco's seawall.
1 The greater portion of the rock for the
/ construction Of this work has been quar-
ried from the base of Telegraph Hill, and
already thousands upen thousands oil
! tons have been blasted out and carried
away to fill up the harbor. Wor1men
have no particular liking for the job. and
new men employed there work with fear
and trembling as they gaze on the over
hanging cliffs, and notice the crevices
open wider and wider every day. The
older hands are. however. not so particn-
lar, and growing familiar with the dan
ger, also grow careless.
This morning the men went to work as
usual, and John Pynas, John Masterson
and another slaporer named Fitzpatrick
! proceeded halfway uD the hill to blast
/ out an oyerhanging cliff. They bored the
holes all right, and then commenced to
spring them in preparation for the
/ final blast. ''Springinp', a blast consists
in putting little powder in the hole and
touching it Oft in order to dry the bole
The three men had sprung two Of the
holes, which were about fifteen feet deep,
and were commencing operations on the
! third when the accident occurred.
Thomas +. Green, the superintendent
of the work, happened to glance up, his
attention having been attracted by few
loose rocks rolling from the cliff. AS he
did so he noticed that the cliff was chip
ping and also that the seams had widened
to an alarming extent. He immediately
warned the men of their danger and
called to them to hurry to place of
safety. Fitzgerald Immediately dropped
his tools and ran, and when the cliff fell
he was twenty feet from where any OF
| the rock struck.
PynaS and Masterson, however, pro-
ceeded more leisurely They were both
used to the work, and believing there
was no immediate danger, proceeded to
/ pick up their tools before descending. A
sharp crack, as of the sudden reTldino of
the hill, soon brought them to realize the
danger OF their position and they dropped
their tools, but even then did not run.
undoubtedly believing that if thew did
the rock would fail over upon them. IN
stead they Rugged the wall and worked
their way along the narrow ledge. look
ing up at the oVerhanging cliff, in the be-
lief that when 1t fell it would 90 over
them.
They had almost reached a place of
safety when the mass came down. In
stead of the cliff alone falling, however.
solid body of rock, five feet thick,
twenty-five feet wide and fifteen feet
deep, came crashing down. Both the nm
fortunate men were caught in the mass
and rolled down almost to the feet of
their afirighted associates. When they
were picked up both were still breathing.
and hurried call was sent in for the ma
troll wagon. By the time it had reached
the scene Pynas had expired and his re-
mains were placed on litter and covered
with blanket, while a messenger was
sent to the Central Police Station to no.
tify the Coroner.
Masterson, after reaching the City Re
ceiving Hospital, was Immediately placed
on the operating table, and Police Sur
geon Williams made an examination of
the unfortunate mans injuries and pro-
nounced them fatal. Several of his ribs
had been forced through his lungs. Be-
side this internal injury, Masterson had a
number of external wounds.