The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1894-01-30
THREE CLOSE CALLS.
MARROW ESCAPES HAD sY WoeNNEN
ma PULP WILL


Around on = EseIt--TbrfIing Experience
with a IoZ Jam
Il never hear Of persons narrowly es-
Gaping death or surviving extraordinary
injuries, p said the New York reprasen-
tative IF 2 big pulp mil company, '-that
d. not think II some remarkable IN
stances II the kind that have occurred ~
one Of our mills in the northern part ~
this state. On one occasion a workman
named Wolf was engaged in cleaning
machine used at = certain stage IN the
process Of puIp manufacture. The pin
cipaI feature IL this machine was two
very heavy ron roIlers-oue above the
Other. When IN operation, TIE Upper
roller was pressed closely down On the
lower one, and they revoIved IN opposite
directions. To clean these rollers the up
per one was raised seven OF eight inches.
the machine Of course being n rest.
'fIn the course Of his work Wolf. who
was q Young German, thrust his head
and shoulders between the rollers 10 gee
better 20 clean the lower roller. While
he was IN that position some careless
person turned on the water power. The
rollers started az once. and before the
alarm could BE gwen and the water
turned off Wolf was drawn clear through
between tho rollers and dropped on the
other side, "a much Ike pulp. 20 far a.
APPEARANCES went, AZ anything could be.
4 happened 10 be in that part Of the mill
at the time and sEw the fri2htful Tnishap.
'I ran TO where the limp form Of the
workman lay and dispatched n Inessen-
ger at once for doctor, merely "a a
matter Of form, however, for that any
thing could be done for the shspeless
nIsss Of humanity never entered my
uin0 It was impossible 20 lift the body.
We sfaf1ed It on 20 "a blanket and car
ried 10 IN the unfortunate mans home.
4 noticed that, although there was not
the slightest evidence Of consciousness,
Wolf was still breathing and that his
heart was beating. When the doctor
came. ne declared that from the shOul-
ders down there was positively not a
single whole bone left in VOLTS body.
He said there was not one chance in ten
thousand Of the man living.
1T would take 10 doctors week 10
set his bones he said.
'sIfe fncased the body in plaster from
the neck down, and when ne came next 4
day was amazed 70 find that Wolf was
still alive and had re0ained conscious
ness. Wolf lay incased n plaster Tor
several weeks. His bones knit and grew
together again, but in such way that |
when ne was able TO get around he was
covered with knobs and ridges and queer !
corners and angles from head to feet.
But ne was alive. He WAS our night !
watchnan for 10 years after that and is
alive today.
Another time workman in a diff |
ferent part Of the mill named Sannernan
was caught in a big belt by felt apron
he wore, and before the works could be !
stopped he was whirled seven times
around the puIleys, striking the ceiling
with tremendous force each time. He
was taken up for dead. / examined him
before the doctor came, and there wasn't |
even the sign OF an abrasion or mark on
his body. Ten minutes later, when the
doctor came, he was "a black "a coal all !
over. There wasn't a spot On MIN that
was not discoIored. The doctor exam
med the man carefully, and 70 his
found that there was not a
bone broken anywhere about him. His
Injuries were so slight that he was at
work again within two days. Yet he
had passed seven times through a space
between the pulley and the beam not
over seven inches wide.
'sOnce the dam Of one Of our mills be-
came 30 clogged with logs that they in
terfered with the water power. 1t was
necessary TO release the jam or shut down |
the mill. The work would necessarily |
endangsr the lives and limbs of all who |
IN ov.1 a-t--I
for, handsome extra pay being offered. |
Plenty Of men were ready 10 take the |
risks, among them Pat O'Brien, an Irish |
man, 81 years old. He insisted on being |
one OF the gang and joined it against the |
protest OF the superintendent.
The work of releasing the log jam |
went all right until the key log that held |
the main jam was to be removed. There /
lay the danger. The key was removed, |
and the men made a wild dash 70 escape |
the rush. They all got out Of the way but |
four, among them the old Irishnan, Pat |
OyBrien. These four were caught among |
the logs and went over the falls, a sheer |
descent of 50 feet. Men and logs went |
over together, and everybody supposed |
that the men would be ground to atoms. |
But most astonishing thing happened. /
In falling number of logs fell on end |
in group. their upper ends topping to- !
gether, forming an almost perfect tent, or
peaked hut, with the down stream side |
open. The men had escaped injury, not
only from the logs IN the fall, but from 4
the tremendous Plunge itself, and it was 1
as they landed in the water below that the /
tent of logs formed with them beneath !
its shelter. This saved them from being |
drowned by the water that plunged |
down from the great height.
There was constant danger of the 1
shelter Of logs being forced from lis /
Judgment by the pressure of water. In |
view of the latter danger, when it came /
to rescuing them, the three young men !
of the party urged old Pat O'Brien to be |
hauled up first. He obstinately refused |