Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1904-10-21
men. Inquest Begun

Monday in the rear of Hooker building
on the east side of Main street For !
two weeks a gang of men had been en-
ployed by Contractor f. /. Kilburn of
Bellows Falls in eXcavating for the foun-
dation for new brick addition to the
Hooker building, which will be erected
by Mrs. George w. Hooker and which
will be practically duplicate of the an
mex occupied by Durham Brothers. The
spot selected for the new building was
Just north of and adjoining the site Of
the Durham Brothers addition.
At the time of the accident, IL o'clock
Monday forenoon, the bank had been
dug away to the depth of 23 feet, % feet
from the rear wall of the Hooker building.
leaving a perpendicular wall of earth %
feet high and about so feet long. The
top of this earth wall was n layer of
about two feet of made soil, under which
was layer of coarse gravel several feet
deep. Below that was hard pan. At in
tervals along the face of the excavation
were hemlock timbers. eight inches square
which were fastened there for the purpose
of retaining the bank and preventing just
such an accident as happened
Running parallel with the face of the
excavation and close to it was a trench
from three to four feet deep. which was to
be filled with cement and rubble stone.
While digging in this trench Mr.. Hop
kins heard the words. Look out" 1t was
Contractor Kilburn who shouted Mr.
Kilburn was on his hands and knees on
top of the bank, talking with his fore
man. Peter j. Wilson, who stood on the
first level Of the excavation Mr. Klhurn
saw that the gravel was falling and that
the bank had begun to move.
All the men heard Mr.. Kilburn's voice.
and they knew at once that danger
threatened them. \ great mass Of earth.
so feet long and extending back in one
place to within three feet of the main
Hooker building moved against the re-
tanning timhers with irresistible force,
the timbers broke in the middle with a
loud crash and tons upon tons of earth
covered the trench to a depth of 10 to Is
feet.
The head and shoulders of n man were
seen protruding from under n pile of dirt
and debris Worlmen pulled him out from
his perilious position. This was John
Claire of Reed Hin. He was badly hurt.
\ hasty canvass of the men was made.
and at first it was thought that all had
been accounted for. Then some one said:
Where is Hopkns?" He could not be
found. Charles Affair said he was work
ing beside Mr.. Hopkins in the trench
when the bank caved in. The awful truth
then dawned upon the frightened men,
and they set to work with extreme
energy to uncover their fellow workman.
although they knew that by no possibility
could his life he saved. even If he could
the weight ofthe fallen earth.
For an hour and half the men shovel
ed desperately. and at about IL 80 o'clock
Mr.. Hopkins's body was recovered. 1t was
in the trench and was in standing pos
ture one arm was extended upward
and the general position of the body in
dicated that he had made an attempt to
get out OF the trench, but was caught and
pulled back by the falling dirt The body
was taken to Moran & Cos undertaking
rooms and prepared for burial.
While the men We're digging for Mr.
Hopkins's body several physicians. who
We're on the scene quickly. turned their
attention to Mr.. Claire The extent OF his
injuries could not be ascertaned. Rev.
Father Donovan. the priest in temporary
charge of St Michaels Roman Catholic
church. ministered to him. after which he
was taken to The Helmocks hospital
where ii was found that his spine was in
jured. When the land slid Mr.. Claire was
on ladder which was leaning against the
| face of the excavation. The ladder was
pushed over, and when II fell Mr.. Claire
was top of 1t. his back was bent over it,
and quantity of earth was on him
Charles Affair, who was in the ditch
with MIR Hopkins. made miraculous es-
| cape, and several others barely got out
of the way of the moving mass Of dirt
| Mr.. Kilburn, when he saw what was go
ing to happen. moved back quickly from
not harmed, although the ground crack
| ed under his feet.
"A large crowd soon was on the scene
| and on account of the danger of another
! slide the entrance between the Hooker
| building and the Vermont Savings bank
| building was boarded up and Policeman
! Thayer was stationed there to prevent
| people going through that entrance. After
! the caVe-in assures an inch wide were
| discovered in the surface of the earth
several feet back from where the land
! slid. crack also was discovered in the
granite retaining wing wall extending
| about II feet north from the west founda-
ton wall under the Durham Brothers adj
| dition. Mr.. Kilburn states that he first
saw that crack Saturday and that it was
caused by digging away the dirt from the
east side and north end.
| The manner of fastening the retaining
timbers was to sink the lower ends into
the ground about two and a half feet and
TO secure the top ends by running iron
guys from them to the top ends of dead
men,, or posts sunk into the ground 90
feet back. At least five of these timbers
We're broken in two and the lower parts
We're pushed over by the falling embank-
ment.
a rumor was current that the main
| Hooker building settled after the accident.
but this was a false alarm 1t is true,
| however. according to the statements of
tenants in the building, that while the
| men were blasting during last week the
| building settled enough to make doors
| bind. 1t is true also that the building has
settled considerably since it was erected
But with a 13-foot wall under the building
! and a 23foot excavation % feet away
the angle between the bottom of the foun-
dation and the bottom of the excavation
is such that the bank could never cave
enough to disturb the foundation wall.
provided it is firmly constructed on hard
pan, as it appears to be-
The blasting was done to loosen the
dirt so that 1t could be shoveled more
easily Contractor Kilburn and his men
state that on account of the small blasts
used the dirt was not disturbed eXcept
within radius of three or four feet at
the outside.