The White Pine news. [volume] (Treasure City, Nev.) 1868-1906, 1900-09-27
CRUSHED TO DEATH.
Freeman J. Leahigh Killed
in the Robust Shaft.
Funeral Largely Attended.
THE WHOLE COMMUNITY IN
MOURNING.

. lsdsb sunday morning jerry lednl9
went TO his work in the shaft at the
Robust mine, light hearted and with
out apprehension of danger-half al
hour later his mangled body lay in the
bottom, crushed beneath srbucket Of
rock that had fallen eighty feet upon
its unsuspectiDg victim. Geo New
man, who was operating the whim, i'm
mediately gave the alarm when the
the bucket fell and summons was
sent to town for the doctor and Super
intendent Marx, while Foreman Mez
ger fastened to the bottom to see who
was hurt. He found Mr.. Leahigh ly.
ing unconscious in the bottom of the
main compartment, while his partner
on tho shift, John Burkin, was still
daZed by the suddenness of the acci-
dent, but practically unhurt With
the aid of John Foppiana, who was
working in a drift near the shaft, Mr..
Mezger placed the body of Leahigh in
the bucket and they were hoisted to
the surface, but the unfortunate man
had breathed his last before reaching
the top.
Within a short time the heart-brok-
en- mother and brother of the deceased
had arrived on the scene, and also a
number of citizens and the Coroner
who impanelled a jury consisting of the
following gentlemen: j. N. Evans, F.
NJ. Clark, w. J. Carothers, Steve
Baker, J. b. Simpson and Otis John
son. After viewing the remains, the
o'clock at the Courthouse, and the
body was brought to town to be pre-
pared for burial.
At the hearing in the afternoon, a
careful Investigation was made as to
the cause of the accident. DIR. Rich
ardson was the first witness. He tes-
titled that he examined the body and
found the back broken, eight of the
dorsal vertebrp being crushed, and
that the left arm and leg were also
broken.
The next witness was John Burkin,
who was working beside the deceased
in the bottom of the shaft. According
to his statement they had just gone to
work to clean out the rock left by the
previous shift. One bucket had gone
up and they had filed the second.
When the empty bucket came down,
they attached the rope to the other
and then tied on two short pieces of
scantling, resting the ends on the dirt
in the bucket. The deceased stood by
the bucket while witness rang the bell
to hoist, and both steadied it as it be-
gan to rise. Then they went to work
to fill the empty bucket and were so
engaged when the loaded one came
down. 1t had slipped from the hook
when about 30 feet from the surface
and fell fully 50 feet.
Tho hook was produced in evidence
and Mr.. Burkin, as well as the subse-
quent witnesses, stated that he consid .
cred it safe and that If it were proper
| ly attached to the bail, it could not
possibly slip of. 1t was a twisted hook
known by miners as a "rams-horn' and
Jack Lemaster, who made it, testified
that he considered it to be especially
safe.
Messrs. Newman and Merger both
testified that the whim was working
smoothly and there was nothing out of
the normal condition at the top of the
shaft to cause the accident.
The jury found that ''the deceased
came to his death in Shaft No. at the
Robust mine, caused by the falling of a
bucket down the shaft No attempt
to fix the blame was made.
The generally accepted theory of the
properly attached to the bucket on the
start, but came partially off while the
two men were tying the scantling to
the rope and they failed to notice that
the hook had Slipped. Few, If any, are
inclined to hold the company in any
way responsible and no one outside of
the bereaved family deplores the acci-
dent more deeply than Supt. Marx,
who has always taken the utmost eau
tion for the safety of his men.
The whole community was moved to
tho core by the sad affair and turned
out en- masse to attend the funeral on
Tuesday afternoon, the Robust mine
and all the business houses being closed.
The principal services were held at the
family residence, where the remains
were laid out in beautiful casket GOV.
cred with flowers. Chas. A, Walker
impressively read the Episcopal service
and choir consisting of Mesdames
Paul, Richard son, Weber, McGill and
Campton, and Messrs. Paul aud Stearns
sang the beautiful hymns, "Asleep in
Jesus" and LEAD, Kindly Light.
Six intimate friends of the deceased,
Geo. Newman, Walter Rynearson, F.
M. Clark, w. j. Stewart, w. A. Moyle
and Stephen Baker, acted as pail bear
ers and walked beside the hearse on Its
short journey to the grave, followed by
, one of the largest professions ever seer
in the county. Over fifty vehicles were