The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-12-17
CAUSE OF THE FALLING OF THE
ELEVATOR AT ROBINSON,
STRAUS & CO.'S.
VERDICT OF C0R0NER'S JURY.
INSPECTOR SILK QUESTIONED
ABOUT THE CONSTRUCTION
OF ELEVATORS.
HAD NOT EXAMINED THIS ONE,
But 1t Had PASSED a Satisfactory
Examination at the Hands of
j. e. Nay1or.

certain the facts concerning the death
of E. j. Mumm and William Schiller,
who were killed in the elevator acct
dent at Robinson, Straus & Co.'S
wholesale millinery store. Wednesday
afternoon, returned the following YER
dict:
and Schiller came to their death by the
falling Of an elevator in the store of Robinson
& Stratus, store 213-219 East Fourth street,
caused by said elevator running into the top
of the shaft and thereby causing the lifting
cable to be broken from the socket attaching
it to the car. The jury further finds that
the automatic stop should have worked is
but four inches and whereas from the evil
dence this space Is believed to be insufficient
the jury recommends that the shaft be raised
The jury was composed Of T. w.
Sachse, foreman: c. J. Kruger, +.
Brandt, Louis Peterson, A. W. Vance
and H. J. Lehr. The inquest was held at
the undertaking rooms of O'Halloran &
Murphy and brought out the story of
the accident in general as was stated
in the G 0 e of yesterday. The wit
nesses examined were A. W. Ritzinger,
credit man for Robinson, Straus & Co.;
Peter NJ. Campbell. a contractor; James
Silk, city elevator inspector; William
Kingsley. building inspector. and e. Z.
Haney state agent for the Union Cas-
ualty Insurance company.
The first witness, Mr. Ritzinger, told
Of being with Mumm shortly before the
accident and assisting in completing
the arrangements for the dead man to
start on his trip that evening.
Contractor Campbell said he had
been engaged to build a cage on the
elevator and had, while at work, been
informed of some minor repairs neces-
sary to be made on the machinery. AT
noon the day Of the accident he had no
tilted a practical elevator man to make
these repairs, but this man had not ap-
peared before the accident at 2.3O
O'Clock. Witness had seen the elevator
running up and, down the shaft and
thought it was safe.
Elevator Inspector Silk said he regu-
larly inspected between 400 and 500 ele-
vators in the city, several times each
year. Any defects found were ordered
repaired. He had not inspected the
elevator upon which Mumm and Schu-
Ter met their death since Robin
son, Straus & Co. recently moved
into the store. Witness said he
had inspected a new freight
elevator being put in at the
store and at that time found carpenters
at work on the fatal car. He casually
looked at some of the machinery but
decided to make no official inveSt1ga-
ton until the men had FINISHED work
ing on, the elevator. Inspector Six said
that he did not consider this elevator
complete and therefore had not made
point of inspecting it. He explained
that. from an investigation subsequent
TO the accident. in his opinion the &C
cident was caused by the car running
into the top of the shaft. From the
force of this collision the cable had
been broken off in the bell-Shaped sock
ct, where it was secured by soloer.
There was a safety device on the ele-
vator. but this was inca pacitated by the
collision ard left the car free for the
fearful plunge, when detached from the
cable. Inspector Silk explained that
the space above the point on the sixth
floor where the automatic appliance on
elevators is supposed to stop them
without effort Of the operator. was but
four inches, while the recognized space
is five or six feet? Sometimes. he said,
the automatic device failed to work.
Then, by seeing that the car was going
higher than it should, the operator
could stop it by the set brake. But
with only space of four inches it was
impossible for Schiller to see that the
automatic stop did not work, and even
if he did. Inspector Silk said the ele-
vator could hardly have been stopped
in the small, distance of four inches.
ssDo YOU consider it safe for an ele-
vator shaft to be constructed so that
there is only few inches above the
car when it is at. the top floor? asked
a juror. r. al
ssAIopu of thaSa. buildings were con-
structed before l came into Office eX
planned Inspector Silk, land to height
en- the shaft would be equivalent to
asking the owners of the building ID
put up another story" In witness
opinion. the elevator was, generally
speaking, safe for travel.
Building Inspector Kingsley stated
that. in his opinion, the accident was
unavoida ble,f assigning the same cause
as Inspector SILK He said that ne
thought none of the minor repair sug-
gested by the inspector representing
the insurance company was responsible
for the accident. The cable had been
broken by the car running against the
overhead beams. Witness, in answer
to a question, said that he believed
that it would decrease the risk if there
had been more space above the auto
matte stopping point on the fifth floor.
In fact, he said. the elevator should
not have been run above the fourth
| floor, as the hfth moor, So-called, was
merely an attic.
Mr.. Haney testified as to the ability
of J. E. Naylor, who passed inspection
upon the elevator for the insurance
company He said Naylor was fully
capable, and that 1t was on his rec
ommendation that the risk was as
sumed by the company. 1t was the in