New-York tribune., 1896-09-29
KILLED IN FIFTH-AVE.
uopKMEN BURIED IN A TRENCH
OFT DEAD AND TWO SERIOUSLY IN
r,prn-rwo FoREMEN ARRESTED
,,-r oNE rS RELEASED.

-.xrN OUT DEAD AND TWO sEfuoo'N' Az
.rn-rwo roREMEN ARRESTED.
BUT ONE is RELEASED
,r,s ~ the gross negligence and in
,~.-.,cs 70 possible loss OF life with whi'h many
NJ the public works In this CITY a'e u,,.h
~-,shsd nv q cave-in which occurred IN rh'h-
iu' ,,os,s,day morning. 1t resulted In the
80, instant death Of one OF the men digging III
... I'D the serious manning OF two others
tn. acc,den, occurred in front OF the shop OF
I"e 20. opticians. at No. 535 Fifth ave-
.oa- r,y-fourth-st Water mains are TO oe iaio
,,s nresent as far north as sForty-eighth- anu
-. ,rsncb has been opened up at depth OF nine
,ast 70 within about a block OF that point Al '''e
.ro, noints where the mains are to be joined
,,s bottom Of the trench is further excaVa'eu ~
u..sa room for their wooden supports and exca-
It,. are o,so made in the banks at either side
- s,,oss noints 10 give the men who lay the mains
80. .. u,rI IN Several men digging at
ors ., these extra excavations, under wooden
-,.so u,,cb was laid across the top OF the
trench. when the accident took place lh's
,o .,r,,o,r-a supported a massive steam
su.r .rd tho derrick with which the loose stone
oar,h uere hauled from the trench. II rested
:. ,.ho- end on the surface Of the street, wlthou'
,o,,o nronned I'D beneath by wooden stanchions'
IT, an zine had stopped work and the laporers
= hrsi,v shovelling out the earth in the trench
.,,. s.15 m when rumbling noise was
80 s,,aaan,v and three Of them started away
=, ,,.o % ascane slide OF loose earth and rock
,uor, tho falling bank The three other men were
,.,ah, however and pinned against the wall oy
ss =, Garth and stones. being buried almost
IN 10 their shoulders. One OF them' Patrick
60 ,,,-,, vears old. OF No. 32S East Seventy
orst-st was killed almost at once Inc others,
,a-su Reilly thirty five years old. OF NO ZZo
r.. c,x,vhfth-st and John Newman thirty-
..o,~s old of No 229 East Seventy-third-st'
- h.d,v injured Richard Merritt. who Is en-
.,ovad O, Hodgson's hower-store. at Forty-ntth-
=, e,d F,fth-ave. called an ambulance from
r,,ou,er Hospital by telephone. Patrolman Law
ra,ca Clinton Of the East Fifty-frst-st station.
.,,osred soon afterward and summoned Roose-
.i, uosn,tal ambulance. The injured men were
.-oo,od bv Dr Whiting Of Flower Hospital. how
o,.o- and then sent away in the Flower Hospitai
ambulance.
7, uas found that some OF Reilly's ribs and MS
Itch, leg were fractured and that Newman nad
,oa several ribs and the left femur broken The
sunerintendent Of the hospital said yesterday
at,arnoon that they were doing well, but could
mot say whether they would recover or not
They are both married men. Quinn was un-
married ,. c,,,or of
Patrolman Clinton arrested Louis simon OF
Eo o5O Rutledge-st.. Brooklyn foreman OF tne
dirt gang. and took him to the East FLY -nis..
G, station Michael Murphy of NO -oi hast
Ninety-third-st., arrested later AS II va
found that he the foreman or the TON
blasting gang and il was believed that lhe re-
con, blasting in the neighborhood mlght hdNe
been the cause Of the accident. Murp4y va wa,
= nstarv.rd released but Coroner Fitzpatrick
held simon in $1,000 bail to await the result ol o.;
the inquest Simon said that he had peen III
,he business sixteen years and had never had
such an accident before. He was baied OUT py
Matthew Baird. who has contracted 10 lay '"e
mains ...,, ,roro
the caye-in are: Thomas Connolly, OF NO 3d So
West Forty -ffth-st. John Hughes. OF NO -'',
East Fifty -sixth-st., and Frank Savana,a, ot t
No 1135 Broadway. Brooklyn. The cause OF
the accident has been laid TO the enects OF IN
blasting and the jolting Of the engine as wei
as 10 the weight Of the engine and derrick II
was said by experts that If the trench hao peeh
properly shored and braced in the mrs, pIace
Instead Of after the accident, there would nave
been trouble.