The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-09-13
HEAD CAUGHT IN
AERIAL TRAMWAY
Will an Thargood Meets With a
FrightfuI Accident.
LIFE NEARLY CRUSHED OUT
NOW LIES AT HOSPITAL IN A
CRITICAL CONDITION.

That William ThurgOOd was saved
I from having his head crushed into a
shapeIess mass yesterday morning 1T
the Centennial Eureka mine at Eureka
/ is regarded as almost miraculous. His
right hand became caught in the NOV
\ ing aerial tramWay at the mine, ana
/ before he could eXtricate it ne was
drawn forward TO the point where the
/ endless cable passes around "A revolving
I drum. The cable caught his head be-
q tween it and the drum. The mans
skull was sufficiently strong to prevent
4 the squeeze between the cable and the
/ drum from crushing it. At the same
| time ThurgOOds head. wedged in as
/ il was between the cable and the drum,
| stopped the tramway.
| While hanging in that position by his
] head and arm, he was rescued by his
I fellow workmen, who rushed to his as
t sistaBce after his first cry for help
4 when his hand became cntangled i'm the
m1chineT-.
Brought to St Marks Hospital.
Thurgood was brought to St. Marks
] hospital on the afternoon train, reach
ing that Institution little after
/ O'Clock. His nervous condition was
| such that the attending physician de-
/ cided thar il would be fatal to place the
] mau under an anaesthetic last even
/ m-. Tu enable him To undergo an eX-
animation and operation today the
: patient was given stimulants through
/ out the night Just how badly his
4 aead and arm are inbred is not known
/ The accident occurred bout s O'clocS
/ yesterday morning. At that time Thur
! good was loading buckets in the upper
! ore house the end of the aerial tram
{ way. The tramway stretches from the
/ Winc for a distance OF 1900 feet to the
/ railway tracks. $50 feet down the noun
; tain side.
The cable on which the buckets travel
! Is eU-leSs aud passes around reVolV-
ing drum, called a bull wheel. AT the
/ upper end. on this bull wheel is q
! brake which sticks occasionally, and 1t
has been the habit of the men to lubri-
cate it with the drippings from a
lighted candle held above.
Contact Stops the Cable.
It is supposed that in doing this
ThuTgOOd'S glove caught on the ca bic.
his right hand was pulled i'm between
the cable and wheel and crushed. and
the forearm broken in two places.
/ Then ne was lifted off his feet by the
tweuty-ton weight of ore-laden buckets
on their way down the nil, and his
head followed the hand between the
/ moving cable aud the surface OF the
drum. The contact stopped the move
ment Of the great weight on its down
ward course. and the men who heard
Thurgood's first shout arrived i'm time
to see him, unconscious. suspended by
the head Forty men responded to
/ cries for help and under the direction
of Mine Superintendent Bob Brown, by
pulling on the cable and prying with
] Crowbars fastened i'm the spOkes of the
wheel. succeeded within three minutes
/ i'm rescuing him.
A physician was summoned from Eu-
reka although everyone present be-
lieved ThurgOod dead. With the relax
alton from the pressure on his brain
the injured man went into commissions
. and for over an hour II required thu
/ combined efforts of eight men TO con-
troll him. OpiateS were Administered
and, accompanied by Mr.. Brown and
s Dave Russell. Thurgood was brought
: TO st. Marys hospital on the after
noon train on which his wife and
young child were passengers,