The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1894-08-03
NARROW ESCAPE.
Geo. Voolfolk Overcome by Escaping
Gas Under the Floor of the
Knitting Mills.

Geo. Voolfolk came as near death
today as person ever does and live.
That he is now living is due to the
prompt and intelligent care which he
has been receiving At about 1880
O'Clock Friday he went to the
knitting mill for the purpose of max
ing a connection under the ground floor
at the northeast corner of the build
ing, where an inch gas pipe enters,
coming directly across the street
from the gas works. This pipe runs
into the chemical labratory. In order
to get to the point where the cap
was TO be attached, it was necessary
for Mr.. Voolfolk to crawl under the
floor for distance of seventy-five feet,
but at the point of connection small
excavation had been made, SO that a
person could sit upright quite COM
fortably Mr. Voolfolk was accom-
panied by the teamSter of the knit
ting mill, August Strum. They had
no difficulty in reaching the point, land
Mr. Voolfolk unplugged the gas pipe
preparatory to connecting the pipe.
There wasa hitch in making cOnnec-
tions and much gas escaped.
There were several ventila-
tion holes in the wall
but they were not sufficient to pre-
vent asphiXiation, and both men were
very soon well nigh overcome. Mr..
Voolfolk more particularly. Mr..
Strum tried to get his companion out,
but in this he was not successful and
was was able to save himself only
with considerable effort. Weak and
sick, his only thought was for his COM
paniOn, and ran over to the gas works
to have the gas shut off, but the man
had gone off somewhere and the works
were shut. He then informed the
officials in the office of the fibreware
company and an effort was then made
to ring up r. E. Brown at the electric
light works. He was found and came
to the mill at once, and went over to
the works and shut off the supply
of gas.
In the meantime efforts were being
made to get Mr. Voolfolk out OF his
dangerous position. He had already !
fallen over unconscious when Mr.. |
Strum left him,and as it was seen to be |
useless to attempt to get him out /
under the floor, an axe was secured |
and hole was soon chopped through
the floor large enough to get the body !
out. After being there fifteen min
utes, exposed to the flow of gas, the
inanimate body was lifted out and
was carried to an airy place. PhySi
clans were hastily sent for, and DR..
Andrews was the first to arrive and
took charge of the efforts at restoring
consciousness. Half a dozen men
were put to work actively working !,
the flesh and limbs of the nearly dead !
man, In order to restore breathing and |
circulation, and in half an hour the
action of the lungs returned. An
electric battery was secured and ap-
piled to the body, and everything pos
sible was done to call back the life
that yet remained, but which seemed
about to depart. After much work
these efforts met with success.
Mr. Voolfolk was taken to his home
this noon, and recovered conscious
ness and talked nationally. When a
FREE PRESS reporter called at his
home, the stone house just over the
hill on North Front street, he was
sleeping easily. He had complained
of pain in his head, and this was the
only trouble. DR.. Andrews stated
that all of the symptoms were favor
able, and he thought that his patient
would be out again within couple of
weeks. He does not believe that any
complications will set in.
Mr.. Voolfolk has been in the employ
of the Mankato Gas and Electric
Light Co. for three or four years and
has had much to do with the gas
pipes, making connections, cut offs,
etc, and attaching meters. He I'M
derstands the business and is a care
full man. He is "A years old, and has
been married but few months.
r. E. Brown states that there is
usually man at the gas works, but |
that he was absent for few moments |
this forenoon. In speaking of the
work which Mr.. Voolfolk was doing, |
he said that the meter had been put |
in place elsewhere in the building, all |
the pipe had been laid, and that what |
was to be done was to connect the sec
tion of pipe coming in from the street |
with the system in the building. To
do this, the plug is pulled from the
pipe at the wall and a cap is screwed |
on at once. Ordinarily this takes but
a few seconds, and very little gas es-
capes, but in this case, in working in
the dark, Mr.. Voolfolk evidently had
trouble with the connection, and |
more or less gas continued TO leak nm