The Forrest City times., 1900-09-07
DIE 70 CROSSED WIRES.
Two ST. Louis Policemen Killed and
Thirteen Others More or Less
Seriously Shocked.
MEN STRICKEN At THEIR TELEPHONES,
The Police Telephone Wires Had, in
some Way. Come In Contact with
Heavily Charged Power Wire
Panic Reigned While a Search
for the Cause Went On.

st. Louis, Sept. 5.-Two police Off
GERS were instantly killed and 13 9th
er attaches and officers of the police
department were more or less serious
ly shocked, Monday night, by the
crossing of the police telephone wires
of the northern part of the city with
wire of powerful electric light or
power circuit. The deadly work of
the invisible current was done as the
officers called up from patrol boxes
in various parts of the district to re-
port to their stations. The first in
timation of the horrible state of af-
fairs came when Officer John Dineen
went to the patrol box at Twelfth and
Morgan streets to call up the Fourth
district station, and from that time
for an hour or more the deadly work
went on, with little apparent possi-
bility of stopping it before the day
platoon went off duty, for the officers
were so widely scattered as to render
il almost impossible to warn them of
the danger confronting them on OPEN
5.
To the executives the situation was
most bewildering, as the reports of
shocked men came pouring in, and
the consciousness was upon them of
their inability to reach more than
moiety of the endangered force with
warning.
Nicholas Beckmann. patrolman.
John Looney, patrolman.
The Injured.
Michael j. Burke, patrolman;
knocked unconscious; badly burned
about hands; will recover.
Andrew Barry, patrolman; serious
ly burned about hands and badly
bruised about body; taken home in
serious condition.
James Edwards, patrolman; right
hand badly burned.
Oliver Miller, telephone boy, Fourth
district station; knocked unconscious
and badly bruised.
George Lyman, inspector of wires,
etc; hands badly burned.
John Dineen, patrolman and signal
officer; badly burned and bruised
from fall
Patrick Noonan, patrolman; hands
frightfully burned.
Patrick Lardner, patyolman;
Knocked unconscious and hands
burned.
John Killoran, patrolman; injured
by fall and hands and right ear
burned
Morris Birmingham, patrolman;
knocked unconscious and burned
about face and hands.
James Moran, patrolman; hands
burned and left side injured.
Anthony Dwyer, patrolman;
knocked unconscious and burned
about face and hands.
Charles kilcullen, patrolman;
burned about face and hands.
Confined to Fourth District.
The trouble seemed confined to the
Fourth police district, and in the
course of the efforts to notify the
men in danger three special officers
were sent through the territory en-
braced in the district as early as
seven o'clock to warn the patrolmen.
This was before the deadly character
OF the trouble was realized. AS soon
as IT was found that the ''cross" was
OF such a serious character a patrol
wagon was sent post-haste through
the district to warn all officers not to
touch any of the boxes. 1t was $3.50
o'clock before the danger of further
accident was entirely over, and then
the source of the trouble had not
been definitely located. An investi-
CATION by daylight is in progress.
The Trouble Located.
The trouble was finally located to
have been caused by the sagging of
an electric light wire of the Seekner
company at the corner of Eighth and
Gar streets, by which a current of g.
800 volts was turned into the tele-
phone wires connecting the patrol
boxes with the police station. The
section of wire that caused the trou-
Die has been cut out and deposited at
The city hall, where ii will remain un-
I'll called for by the owner.
All of the injured men are doing
well.