Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-12-08
Held Responsible For the Death
Of John Kielty
BY THE CORONER'S JURY
HOiSted Without Signal Just as Kielty
Was Getting on the
Cage.

According to the verdict of the coro-
ner's jury, the responsibility for the
death of John Kielty, who was killed at
the Bell mine Wednesday morning, rests
upon the shoulders of John j. Kane, the
Bell engineer.
The story as brought out by the wit
nesses who testified at the investigation
yesterday afternoon was practically the
same as published in the Inter Mountain
on the day of the accident. Kielty and d
number of other men We're about to go
off shift and were at the 1000 level, wait
ing to he taken up. The cage stopped at
the LOCO level, but was not on a level
With the station floor and the station ten
der signalled the engineer, and it was
lowered into position. AS Kielty was
stepping into the cage 1t shot upwards
without signal and the mar was caught
under the cap of the station, crushed
and as the cage passed up the body
dropped into the shaft, falling nearly 700
feet TO the bulkhead.
The testimony of A. L. Elkins, the sta
ton tender, is to the effect that the en-
gineer hoisted the cage without the sig
nal to do 50. When the cage stopped at
the 1000 it was about three feet above
the station floor. He signalled to the
engineer to lower the cage into proper
position, and when his was done two
men got on the top deck. Then in re-
Spouse to signals the cage was hoisted SO
as to bring the lower deck into position.
When it had been hoisted to the proper
place he signalled one bell and the cage
was stopped. Then he waited Is or 20
seconds, before he would permit the men
to set on. kielty was the first to make
the attempt, and as he stepped on the
cage it was hoisted and kielty was killed.
The witness gave 10 signal to hoist.
John J. Kane, the engineer, testified
license. and that he had been employed
in the st. Lawrence, Anaconda and other
mines for IA years. He said he had been
at the Bell seven weeks. The LOCO level
was abandoned and there was no mark
on the rope to indicate when the cage
arrived opposite the level. He did not
know that men were to be hOisted from
the 1 900 level. He got the signal to raise
the lower deck and then got one bell, the
signal, as he supposed. to hoist. lie
waited some seconds and then hoisted.
| He denied hearing other signals and said
the bell could not always be heard, and
he had talked with the station tender re-
garding this deficiency.
Deputy State Mine Inspector Frank
Hunter testified that confusion of the
signals was responsible for the accident.
He said it was hard to believe that the
engineer heard some of the signals ana
did not hear others.
The verdict of the jury was that de
ceased came to his death by falling from
the 900 level of the Bell mine to the
bottom, and hat from the evidence ad-
duced deceased was thrown from the
! cage While in the act of stepping on to
it, the cage then being under way toward
the surface; that he was acting under
directions of the station tender. We fur
Their n from the evidence adduced with
| reference to the code of signals hat the
! accident was due to the carelessness Of
the engineer.'