Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1900-02-08
KILLED BY TRIPLES.
ODD ACCIDENTS DUE TO PETTY
OCCURRENCES
Mon HOisted to q Roof by the Weight
of Barrel Of BricksA Philadel pin ia
Man ElectrOcuted by an Umbrella
While Viewing a Toy Window.


Of "a Barrel Of Bricks-A PhiiadeI pi,ia
Man Electrocuted by an Umbrella
While Viewing Toy Window.
The good old Anglo Saxon adage.
1.-THE unexpected always happens" Is
rs true to-day as 1t ever was. and the
fact Is often verified by the occurrence
OF peculiar accidents. Some accidents
are so odd and brought about by such
a strange combination Of circumstances
that probably they could not he re-
peated In a century. simply because all
the conditions would not be Identical
at a given time. For example. an ac-
cident happened in connection with the
erection Of n sky-scraper In one OF our
large Eastern cities in the following
manner: A laborer was engaged In
regulating the paying out" OF rope
attached to a fall AMI tackle used In
lowering barrels Of bricks from one OF
the upper stories to the ground. The
rope was controlled by being wound
two or three times around a gaspipe.
one end Of which was stuck into hole
In the woodwork on the ground floor.
At the time the accident in question
occurred barrel was filed with bricks
preparatory to being lowered and was
swung out into midalr in the usual
way. In paying out the rope the la
borer carelessly let 1t slip off the gas
pipe. but he chung tenaciously to the
end Of the rope and his weight. being
less than that of the barrel Of bricks he
was holsted to the top Of the building
as the bricks descended. the barrel
striking him rs 1t pa ssed-nOt sufficient
~ hard. however. to compel him to
loosen his grasp. AS the bricks reach.
tom out Of the barrel and released the
bricks. AS a consequence the laborer.
clnglng to the rope with tenacity
born of despair. fell to the ground. The
barrel in its turn struck the beams at
the top and broke into pieces. which
fell upon the man lying below. 1t Is
needless to say that the man was serl-
ously injured. but. curious to say. a
pipe which he was smoking at the mo-
ment he started on his perilous journey
to the roof was held still in his clinched
teeth when he was picked up.
Here is another case where all the
behOlders expected to see man dashed
to death. but through pure accident he
came out without scratch. This also
occurred on building In course Of con-
struction. A workngman who was
employed on one of the upper stories
of frame building stepped off and fell
to the ground. His companions thought
surely that he must be killed, or ut
any rate severely hurt, but there was
a huge pile Of shavings where he fell
and he tumblcd into them as If into a
feather bed and after he recovered from
his surprise picked himself up and re-
turned to his work In the upper part
of the building as nonchalantly MS
though nothing unusual had happened.
Here Is a man who met with
strange accident, but who did not get
Off as luckily rs the hero Of the pile OF
shavings. He heard cry OF fire In
house adjoining his own. In his own
house he had chemical fire eXtin-
guisher, which he fastened to his back
and went to see what he could do to
assist his neighbors. For some reason
best known to itself the eXtinguisher
went off like huge skyrocket ana the
unfortunate man was lifted bodily
through the window and hurled to the
ground and killed by the fall. although
not injured In the slightest degree by
the explosion of the eXtinguiSher.
The greatest risk incurred in shoot
ing is generally that Of being hurt by
the direct discharge of the piece. but
here is the case of man who was out
hunting and discharged his gun, when
n shot. through pure misadventure. hit
hard object and rebOunded Into one
of his eyes, completely destroying the
sight.
One stormy night in Philadelphia
man was standing before a show win
dow engrossed in the beautiful holiday
display. lie was holding an umbrella
over his head and above him was an
arc hight. In some unaccountable way
the tin Of the rod of his umbrella came
in contact with the iron frame OF the
lamp. the frame. because OF some freak
of the current. having become charged.
The circuit was completed aud the man.
who an instant before believed himself
in place of perfect safety. received
shock which killed him.
And SO II Is that the most remote and
insignificant causes produce startling
results. A man Is never hurt In just
the same manner he anticipates. II he
thinks about 1t at all. II he had a
dread OF railway smashups he Is usu-
ally dragged out OF telescoped passen-
ger trains comparatively uninjured. but
escapes that fate only to sneeze too
hard on some ill-stnrred day. breaking
n blood vessel in a vital locality. from
which he dles.-San Francisco Call.
ROckiu0 Chairs and Insanity.