The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-06-26
TWO MEN KILLED AND
-FOUR OTHERS INJURED
Fell From a Scafolding on the Big Iron Block-Gave Away at
the Fourth Floor - Six Men Dropped 65 Feet to the
Basement = The Crash Was Terrific.

q AoEk
How does il feel to fall S. feet7' he
was asked by the reporter.
II can't tell much about It," said
Maser. II remember that we were car
rying a gin pole. j was In front along
with the German, Albert. 1 remember /
was just stepping over an iron column.
the n OF which lay on the scaffold.
AS l stepped there everything seemed
to give way at once. l remember being
in a mass of dust and bricks as j fell. /
remember striking against iron girders
and beams and i kept clutching with
my arms to get hold of things, but !
could not hang hold of anything. The
way / went down IL seemed TO me a
couple of minutes that 1 was falling.
Then everything of a sudden became
blank. / had no consciousness whatever
then. The next l remember was when
I was in the wagon driving rapidly to
the hospital. A colored man was in
there and he was yelling like mad. 1
remember thinking to myself that l was
alive yet, but l did not expect to live. l
suffered terrible pain during the ride
to the hospital"
Don't you remember walking a ways
in the cellar after you had been picked
up"
mo. I don't remember that. Jack
Turner was down here to see me and he
told me that / walked for a way in the
cellar after I was picked up. but I don't
remember a thing about that. / remem-
Der falling with a lot of dust and bricks
around me, and / remember striking
one or twice on my way down. j was
perfectly conscious and cool until 1
reached the bottom. After that / re-
membered no more until 1 was In the
ambulance"
You were cool on the way down?"
"Oh yes, j have had experience
enough i'm falling not to get excited.
This is my seventh tumble. / fell 6s
feet in just about the same way in chi
cage IL years ago. The s~caffolding gave
way and / tumbled straight down to
the cellar. j went head first, but about
10 feet from the bottom l turned over
and struck in a big pile of sand. A few
minutes afterward / was at work on
the top of the building again. / re-
member the Chicago papers wrote up
about my fall and told in the same ar
ticle about a lawyers clerk, who fell on
a chat and broke his neck, saying how
he lost his life in falling two feet and |
got off without a scratch in falling 6S
feet.
Then I fell off a derrick in Chicago.
That was a fall of so feet, and | had
some broken bones there. Then j have
had some smaller falls, but l am better
on long distance falls. The shorter dis
lance ] fall. the worse | get hurt. j
was in the hospital three months from
being thrown from a horse. My last
bad fall was i'm the relay bicycle race
in Denver Aug. Is. 1896. / got a bad
tumble there and was laid up a long
time"
There will be a most rigid investiga-
ton as to the cause of the accident.
Coroner Tremblay empaneled a jury
yesterday and the inquest may start
this evening.
rL. a,.,,tor - tIa HIacly mn Ia1trp
last August, but work was suspended
during the winter. The building is to
be six stories from the street. The
iron work has been completed for three
stories and has been started on the
fourth story. 1t was at the bottom of
the fourth story that the scaffolding
gave way.
The building Is being erected for the
ID. J. Hennessy Mercantile company.
The iron work is being done under con-
tract by the Gillette-Herzog company
of Minneapolis. which has entire
charge of the construction of the iron
portion of the building. S. F. Fitch is
the superintendent for the iron contrac-
tors. and Bernard Herman is their fore
man. Fred Whitesides is contractor
for the brick work. James Leck is SUI
p~erintendent for ID. ]. Hennessy.
Mr.. Hennessy said yesterday:
II want a full investigation into the
causes of this accident. and as TO the
responsibility, the fuller the better.
Neither Mr.. Leck nor myself have any
thing to say about the construction of
the building. Mr.. Leck Is su~perintend-
ing the work for me TO see that every
thing is one according to the con-
tract"
James Leck, superintendent for Mr..
Hennessy, said:
Il was standing on the west walk
across the street when the accident oc-
CURED. About all / could see was a
great mass of dust and stun. 1t seems
to me that the iron people are respon-
sible for the accident. The scaffolding
was not put up by them or for them.
1t was put UP by the brick layers for
their use, and their use only. 1t was
not constructed to hold iron, and the
iron workers were warned repeatedly
by the brick layers not to take iron
on the ~scaffolding, as Ii was not strong
enough for them. The scaffolding was
put up this morning and laid on the
iron girder at one end and on green
bricks on the other. The bricks were
only laid yesterday. The ~planking did
not break, but when the men with the
iron gin pole reached the center, the
planks sagged so under the weight that
they pulled off from the green bricks.
and down all went"
s. F. Fitch, superintendent of the
construction of the iron work. said:
IT am not able TO give any explana-
ton OF the accident. as / did not see IL.
l was not there at the time. ! am
making an investigation and may be
able to throw some light on the mat
ter later. II seems TO me that a scat
folding can't be called safe for any
purpose IL IL can't bear the additional
weight OF five men and a gin pole"
Bernard. or Barney Herman is the
foreman in charge of the iron work.
At the time of the accident he stood
IN an iron column right beside the
scaffolding and was directing h work
of the men.
When the scaffolding fell he was seen
to sway for an instant. and IL was
thought by the spectators that he.
would fall also. but he recovered his
balance. Mr.. Herman declined to say
anything to a reporter for the present
in regard to the accident.
Fred whitesides has the contract for
the brick and directs IL in company
with his brother, W. @. WSitesides.