The age-herald., 1898-10-30
HAD 4 DOUBLE ESCAPE FROM DEATH Terrible Experience of hneman at Top
 of a Pole. SHOCK OF ELECTRICITY Telephone Wire Came In Contact With
 Trolley Wire.
COULD NOT UNL00sE HIS HOLD
Finally Rendered Unconscious and Fell to the Pavement Forty Feet Below Hands Painfully Burned and
 Several Ribs Broken.

A. J. Cooper, lineman employed by the Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph company, had a shocking" experience and a miraculous double escape from death yesterday afternoon about 2:S0 o'clock, which he will not soon forget.
 Cooper was engaged with gang of workmen in changing the wires in Sixth avenue between Eighteenth and Nineteenth streets, to new forty foot poles, which had just been put up. He was standing on cross arm near the top of a pole about midway the block, and was placing the wires in the new moorings Suddenly one of the wires came in contact with the trol- ley wire at the corner of Nineteenth street, transmitting the heavy trolley current to Cooper, who was unable to loosen his holt, receiving the full force of the current through his body. The unfortunate fellow made a desperate effort to "disconnect," but was unable to let loose the wire, which besides terribly shocking him, burned deep into the flesh. Notwithstanding the fact that he was standing about thirty-hve feet from the ground, so great was his pain the gritty lineman made an effort to fall off the pole in order to break his hold on the live wire, but the electric current drew him up, preventing his fall, until at last be became unconscious and the weight of his body preepitated him to the ground, tearing his hand away from the heavily charged wire.
 Thought He Was Dead
 Cooper fell to the sidewalk below, strik- ing on his right side Several of the line men who witnessed the accident ran to him expecting to find him dead.
 pr. E. P. Sholl, who chanced to be passing near by at the time, was called, and in a few minutes Cooper became conscious and wanted to know what had happened.
 Manager Woodruff of the telephone company, was notified of the accident and was soon on the scene and had the injured man removed to the Hillman hospital where he was attended by pr. Copeland It was found that several ribs had been broken by the fall and his body badly bruised. His left hand and arm were also badly burned by the wire. The inju- ries were dressed and Cooper was soon resting easy. a.
 To an Age-Herald reporter he willingly related his experience, his face comforting with pain as he attempted to describe the pain when the heavy current struck him. He said that after attempting and failing 10 fall off the pole he lost consciousness and remembered nothing more until he found himself lying on the ground sur rounded by his fellow workmen.
 Lives in Atlanta
 Cooper lives in Atlanta and has been in the employ of the telephone company about two years, coming here from At lanta to assist in the work of changing the lines in this city.
 Manager Woodruff did everything possi- ble for the injured man and says that the telephone company was not to blame for the accident, as there is a city ordinance requiring street car companies to have dead wires stretched above trolley wire where 1t passes under telephone line, in order to protect telephones in case the wires break, which was not done at this point