Bridgeton pioneer. (Bridgeton, N.J.) 1884-1919, 1893-08-03
A SAILOR BREAKS HIS NECK
AT BEUNA VISTA.

Falling Fifty.five Feet from o
Mast Head q Norwegian Meets
an Awful Death Wednesday
Afternoon,
By bis own careless act Norwegian
sailor at Buena Vista, Wednesday af-
ternoon met an awful death.
Five years ago, Bereut Peterson,
aged twenty-seven years, left his home
la Norway. and came to this country
to seek his way in this new land.
Some time ago he came down to
Beuna Vista and was employed at
what is known as Greenwich Piers by
Smith " Johnson, the oyster shippers.
He was a quiet, unassuming fellow
and made many friends, and was gen.
orally liked by all his fellow associates.
He was thorough sailor, and a valu-
able man for his employers.
Strong, of splendid physique, he
was dare devil and careless, and it was
this fact that yesterday afternoon
caused his death in a manner most
horrible.
The boat upon which he was EN-.
ployed has been In the ship yard for
repairs, and away up at the mast head
was a heavy block and fall, used in
hauling men up and down the mast,
while they were engaged in scraping
the mast.
Peterson was sent up to the mast
head in the afternoon to remove this
heavy block and send 1t down to the
deck by the use of the rope. Like the
sailor that he was, the fellow with
agility soon reached the block, and
unloosed it from its position, Die.
obeying orders, he hooked the block
in his belt, and started to come down.
Those at work about him, called to
him to send the block down by rope,
as the line would not bear his weight
together with the heavy block.
He disregarded this Injunction how.
ever, and with the heavy block hooked
into his belt, swung himself out on
the line and started to descend.
Hardly had the full weight been
thrown upon the line before it parted,
and before the horrified gaze of the
half-dozen workmen, the big Nor.
wegian turned completely Ia the air,
and fell headlong with frightful7 We.
locity,
On, with lightning-like rapidity,
came the body, narrowly escaping a
sailor standing on the deck, and dis.
appeared like a fash in an open hatch
way, and an instant later, was quiver.
ing in the bottom of the hold, and life
was ebbing away.
Those about the vessel rushed to
the hold and pulled the body out, but
life was extinct, and great gloom fell
over the men there.
On Wednesday night Coroner
Bellows and County Physician Thomp-
son drove to Buena Vista for an in
vestigation, and brought to light the
facts as portrayed above. The body
was examined most carefully, and the
neck was found to be broken. The
chin had struck in the decent, cutting
horrible cash. No other bones were
broken, and this seems strange, for
one would have thought that the
body would have been pulp, falling
as 1t did distance of fifty-fve feet.
An inquest was decided to be un-
necessary and the body was given in
charge of an undertaken, and it will
be given christian burial.
Out on the boundless sea, a,somewhere
Is brother Of the unfortunate man,
sailing toward his far off home in Nor
way. He had been In this country
with Peterson during the past FIVE
years, and only Tuesday left Beauna
Vista, to start upon that visit. He
left with the happy thoughts of his
brothers prosperity, and was carrying
back with him to the loved ones at
home, the joyful tidings that Berent
was doing we'll. and looking forward
to an early visit to Norway. Before
he reaches that old country the cable
will have carried the sad tidings under
the sea, and the traveller will be met
with the terrible news that will sad
den his heart, blight his life, and per-
haps change its entire course, for he
will not be anxious to again return
here, with no welcoming kinship
to receive him, only a lonely, unkept
mound, marking the spot of the NOR.
tality of that brother whom only two
days since he left with health, spirits,
vigor and promise of years yet of life
and happiness.
The Engineer
Of the Wakefield, Mass, Rattan
AT