The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-05-19
THREE IN A TANK.

t1rSC One dropped, Ineu AuOtner-~-A Fight for Life Against Asphyxia-
 tion.
 Necessity developed the hero in one man--in fact in several men-at the Solvay Process Company's plant Satur- day after the incident occurred which killed one man and brought two others near to death.
 Two men were at work making re- pairs to a big tank used for storing coal tar. One man stood inside the tank, beating down the heads of red hot rivets forced through the side of the tank by man on the outside.
 After they had been at work for some time the man on the outside noticed that the man on the inside had suspend ed operations. He crawled to the top of the tank and peering in through a man. hole saw his fellow workman stretched out on the bottom. He immediately jumped to tine conclusion that some thing was wrong. Luckily he took the precaution to call to third man that he was going into the tank and might need help. He climbed inside, and straight way fell down beside the first man. The third man climb to the top of the tank and saw the forms of his two com rades stretched out inside. Even then he did not realize the danger. He called out to a number of his comrades and promptly went down the manhole to get the unconscious men out
 Just as the other workmen, with lad ders, reached the top of the tank, they saw the third man throw up his hands and drop senseless by the others. By that time Calvin Denby, brother of Representative Edwin Denby, and fore man Of that particular department, reached the scene. He realized inl- nediately that the man were being slowly asphyXiated. A big fire hose was brought into action and played upon the men. This seemed to revive one of them. He raised up on his elbow and turned his face toward the water with, with the whites of his eyes showing. turned his face toward the water Then he dropped again.
 Pretty soon Denby found that he was going to drown the men if he put much more water into the tank. That source Of relief was cut off. The time was getting short. the men having been in the foul air for nearly ten minutes. At last small opening was found at the side Of the tank. The cover of it was taken off, and man tried in that way to reach the helpless men. The hole was only large enough to let a large man in as far as his waist. Man after man stretched in as far as he could toward the bodies. and after futile att tempts ao reach them was dragged out again and laid on the grass in the fresh air to revive. At last one big fellow managed to reach two of them with a long hook and drag them close to the opening. The relays of men dragged the bodies to the hole and out.
 The third man was too far away to be reached even with hook, and Dem by decided to go into the tank himself
 He tied q rope about his waist took another in his hand and was lowered into the tank. He crawled along the steel girders as far as he could, left the rope there and crawled back for fresh air.
 After two or three trips he managed to get the rope under the mans body. A couple of more trips and he was able to tie the rope about the man. He was then dragged out himself. After that it was easy to get the last man out of the tank. All were in bad shape, in cluding Denby, who collapsed as soon as he had rescued the third man. All four were taken to the company. hos- pital.
 Charles Vezina, the second man to go into the tank afflicted with heart trouble had became a martyr to his efforts to save his fellow Workmen. He died at the company's hopital Sun day night. The other two men, John Guilbert and Thomas Haley, were able to leave the hospital Sunday. Vezina lived at 135 Junction avenue and is sur- vived by Mrs. Vezina and a girl baby.
 The trouble, it was found later, was caused by the gradual formation of a noxious gas under the thick layer of tar with which the walls of the con- tainer, by long use, had become coated The punctures in the coating of tar, caused by the hot rivets, let out the gas and filled the tank.-Detroit Journal,