The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-09-04
LIFE CRUSHED OUT.
Horrible Death i'm the Elevator
of the Pioneer Building.
A LITTLE MIssTEP THE CAUSE.
The Body of n Janitor Ground to Pulp
By Waters ResistIess Power
His Fatal Misstep.

a horrible accident happened In the Pioneer
building last evening al 6:5l O'Clock. By which
George L Hancock. the assistant ianitor. was
crushed TO death and horribly mangled by the
elevator. His head was caught between the
elevator platform and the Intel over the
door on the fourth floor. and the by
drauiic pressure, which was turned on
nearly TO lis iuu force, ruthlessly
tore the flesh and crushed the bones until there
was not very much semblance of humanity
lett Ii the unfortunate man uttered sound
no one heard IL The elevator went up until
the body was wedged in so tightly that not even
the Tremendous powe. below could move IL, and
then ereskec and groaned ominoasly until the
alarm was given and the engineer in the base
meRt shut OF the water.
Judge Cam, whose Office is on the fourth floor
OF the building, waited for the elevator 10 come
down. and becoming impatient at the delay,
called:
George, what are you doing, anyhow
There wSs no answsr He climbed flight OF
stairs ana found the elevator almost on level
with the aoos and the door closed. The man
would not have shut himself out, and he was
not to be seen within. passerby put his face
close to the glass aud discovered part of Han
cocks head and shoulders in one corner of the
platform
Then the alarm was given. Officer John Rob-
erts was first on the scene, and then came host
OF idle loungeSs, attracted by morbid desire to
witness CHASTITY spectacle. The upper floor
was crowded, but no one offered helping hand
20 rescue the body from its awful position. The
door was ismmed tightly to- and resisted ordi-
nary efforts 10 open u The officer finally sue
ceeded. by using chair for q lever. in forcing
the door from the tracks it runs on and OPEN
ing il.
This relieved part of the pressure on the
body, and the elevator took new start, going
up slowly two feet, and releasing the body. The
head fell back over the shoulder. part OF the
right cheek two inches wide was all that held
| the two portions of the head together. The
lower jaw and meek were one part and the
mangled Uranium another. The features were
scarcely disturbed, although the spinal column
was snapped in three places, and the skull
barred so that the tongue fell back and projected
through the left side of the neck.
Coroner Horton arrived just as the officer
finished his task. He searched the clothing for
| evidences OF the dead mans identitv, but found
nothing.
crowd gathered on the upper floor that
would not have climbed five flights OF steps I'M
der ordinary circumstances. Another crowd
gathered on the street at the entrance of the
building. Onehalf of those who stopped did not
know what it all meant. AS soon as they found
out, the same impulse moved them to look at
the scene above steady stream poured into
the building and on up the stairs. The process
sion that moved down was not communicative,
Men who had gratifed their curiosity shook
their heads and were silent. The others
| elbowed and pushed and tiptoed I'M
turned away in response to the
| request of the officers and went down stairs.
| Now aud then there was one for whom the sight
| of mangled flesh and blood and the presence of
death seemed to have a strange fascination.
| These stood and gazed abstractedly until they
were elbowed rudely away by other anxious
ones.
The elevator Was mt in running order with
out delay. The body was lifted carefully and
taken to the street entrance. There was no light
| in the lower hallway and the darkness sent
| shudder through the crowd One man knelt by
the body and lighted match, but, when the
| light hickered and fared up suddenly, the sight
was more than he expected and the splinter fell
| from his nerveless fingers.
The hearse with the receiving casket arrived
| at T:30. The body was transferred TO the morgue
| at Bonney Il Stewards, and the crowd dispersed
slowly, although little knots OF individuals
| lowered near and talked in low tones until mid
| night
Very few persons present knew the man who
| was killed. He came to Seattle directly from
| his home in Wales about six months ago lie
| obtained employment from J. D. Lowman on the
| strength of the good recommendations that he
! possessed, and did his duty faithfully He was
| employed to sweep out the offices and do odd
| jobs about the building. These included light
| ing the lamps at dusk and running the elevator
| while the regular elevator boy took his meals.
When he met his death he was going up and
! turning on the drop lights in the different
| stories as he went 1t is evident that he
| stepped off the elevator without shutting the
| water clear off. and then, as the elevator rose
| half of the height of the doorway, he saw it
| move and reached in TO grasp the lever and stop
the machine. He moved quickly and was
| not any too careful. Reaching for
the lever he was forced to lean forward
Iya 1oS. j. hale a ~A1l
as he fe.l on the platform The elevator started
| up and he drew back. but ii was too late. Death
| must have been nearly instantaneous, AS soon
as the spinal column was compressed paralysis
| ensued, and he was spared the agony of realiz-
| ing what was going on as his flesh and bones
were SHREDDED along the wall to the top of the
| hoist
| George Hancock was a communicate at Trim
| ity Episcopal church, of which the Rev. George
/ Herbert Watson is pastor. He well liked
and had great many friends. The evening be-
| fore his death he spent in the company of his
/ pastor, talking of his prospects. He seemed TO
| be very much pleased with his situation, and
| spoke cheeriully OF the future
Rev. Mr. Watson spoke OF him as one of the
| most exemplary men he ever knew, and ex-
pressed great sorrow at his sudden death.
David l. Hancock, the ianitor of the Central
| school building is the dead mans brother St
| Clements Mission gave excursion to Sno-
| qualmie Falls yesterday. David was one of the
| merriest OF the merry party. He returned to
find that his brother had been killed and is al
| most Frustrated with grief
The elevator in the Pioneer building is con-
sidered one OF the safest manufactured Alder
man Hall, who is an elevator expert, said last
evening that no blame could be attached to the
constructors OF the machinery or 10 any one
else. TWAS, in his opinion, one of the unavold-
able accidents that SO with eontributory negli-
geuee.
Morphine-E Eating Mallam Better