The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-05-20

Pinned by the heavy balancing
weight in the elevator shaft of the
| Colonnade hotel, Alexander Juneau, a
young man learning to operate the lift,
| was crushed to death shortly before
IL O'Clock yesterday morning, Ntthin a
| few feet of half a dozen witnesses,
| poWer1ess to render him assistance
| conscious to the moment of death,
Juneau's struggles presented fright
ful spectacle. His terrified cries could
be heard throughout the building and
people rushed from their apartments
| only to be forced to turn away their
! eyes from the terrible fate Of human
being in the clutch Of an awful death
| from which none could rescue him.
Juneau had not yet been regularly
employed to run the elevator, having
| only gone to the hotel yesterday to be-
| gill his apprenticeship. He spent q
couple CT hours riding up and down
with John Walker, the regular elevator
operator, and when, during a cessation
| OF travel, Walker started to clean the
windows of the car, Juneau offered to
help him.
|, TO reach the windows 1t Is necessary
to enter the shaft and mount a step
ladder from cross beam several feet
below the ground floor. Juneau went
into the shaft and was rubbing the
rear windows when a call came for the
upon the cross beam until the car as
cended above him, leaving him with
out any support against which to
steady himself. When the car go up
there is hole of six or seven feet to
the bottom of the shaft. and it is
thought, fearing that he might fal: or
be struck by the elevator when 1t
came down, Juneau sought a place of
greater safety
This act cost him his life In look
ing about he espied a short wooden
brace supporting an exhaust pipe sew
eral feet above him. on the right hand
side of the shaft Climbing upon this
support Juneau wedged himself c,ose
to the pipe, but in so doing he forced
his body directly into the slide where
the 1,000-pound balancing weight runs
the We Chit descs ndS as the elevator
goes up, but as the car runs slowly
Juneau had ample time to gain the
brace before it came In sight. AS the
car reached the fourth floor TIE h,avy
weight glided down upon the unfor-
tunate young man, striking the back
Of his head, a glancing blow, and then
crowding upon his shoulders.
The blow on the head was not of
sufficient force to render Juneau I'M
| conscious, and he began crying wildly
for help, but every second the crush
Ing force became greater, and before
any ore could reach him he was in
hopeless'y fatal trap.
Manager ]. E. Geldreioh, of the hotel,
was in the office but a short distance
away, and ran to the shaft at Jur eau's
first cry. He saw the young fellow
pinned against the exhaust pipe, strug-
Cling to free himself. Juneau locke
at him in fearful terror and called
more aeonizingly for help, but there
was no release for him.
Mr.. Geldrsich cried out to Walker
to stop the elevator but Walker did
not understand the confusion. and he
heavy weight continued crushing OFT
Juneau's life Res ing upon hi sh uld-
ers at the neck, the pre- sure of he
weight increased until Juneau's suffer-
ing ended In death, his spinal column
having been broken.
In the meantime a bell boy ran to
the fourth floor to sop the elevator
Here 1t was found that the safety de-
vice on the car had set and it was
necessary to pry up the elevator with
crowbar, before Juneau's body could
be released.
The unfortunate young man lived
| under the terrible pressure Of the
weight about six minutes, but it must
have seemed to him that even the re-
lease Of death would never come, in
the agony be sutr red within such
short time
Coroner Nelson investigated the cir
cumstances Of the death, and decided
that it was purely an accident. He
will hold no inque st. The body was
taken in charge by le.atives Of the d Fad
man.
Juneau was twenty-five years Of age
and unmarried He lived with his par
ents at 544 Park avenue.