The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-01-28
BY FALLING HOUSE
MAN WAS CRUSHED
HEAD FORCED THROUGH HOLE.
THIS ALONE SAVED j. b. FUTILE
FROM INSTANT DEATH.


House of Mr.. Fletcher ExIey on Mill
Haven Road COlIapsed-Mr e. A.
EhsOn Escaped Serious Injury.
Though Suffering Intensely, Mr..
futile Told story of Accident.
Body Badly Crushed and Result
of Injuries Not Yet KnOwn-Cnr-
penter's Narrow Escape from In
slant Death.
With an unexpected crash an unfin-
ished frame structure on the Militia
ven road collapsed early yesterday
! afternoon, carrying with it ]. B. Tut
| tie, a carpenter, and inflicting injuries
that may cause his death.
An opening in the roof through which
his head was sticking when the struc-
ture folded, was all that prevented the
| instant death of the carpenter. But
for the fact that his head was through
! this opening it would probably have
been crushed and mangled At the
same time E. A. Eason, a contractor,
was painfully. but not seriously in
jured.
| The building on which the men were
working was a one-story, uncompleted
affair of considerable size, near the
Southern Cotton Oil Mills on the Mill
Haven road. the property of Mr..
| Fletcher EXley. The sides had not yet
| been boarded UP and the boards, on
which tin was to have been laid, were
| in position. This threw considerable
weight on the frame, which was insult
ficient to stand the strain, and sudden
| ly. without an instants warning, the
| structure collapsed and fell into the
road.
Mr.. Eason was standing on the floor
of the house, near the outside. and as
the structure fell in the opposite direc-
ton, he escaped with only a severe
blow on the head. The blow from a
falling board, cut his scalp badly, and
felled him, but besides the loss of
blood no i'll effects will result.
Mr.. futile was working near the roof
and was unable to make a move to
save himself when the crash came. BY
| the merest chance his head was push
| ed through an opening in the boards as
| the house fell, and this alone saved
him from instant death. The remain
| der of the lumber and beams fell upon
his body, crushing 1t badly and injur-
| ing him internally.
futile Was Badly Hurt.
Mr.. Eason, after a short time, was
able to go to his home in a carriage
and will suffer no i'll effects from the
| accident Mr.. Tuttle, as soon as he
V~as extricated from the wreckage, was
| seen to be badly injured and the police
ambulance was summoned. He was
taken to his home at No. 522 Duffy
| street, west, and Dr. w. r. Norton
called. An examination showed that
| the carpenter had been injured inter-
nally, but how badly could not be
| told.
Mr. Tuttle was seen at his home by
a Morning News representative, and,
though suffering intensely, was able to
tell of the accident and gave a de-
scription of the fall and his narrow
escape.
Il had gone up near the roof" he
said, land was sitting in a large
| joist working, not for a moment
| thinking that l was in the slightest
danger. l was perfectly enclosed save
for a small opening near my head
which had not yet been boarded in. 1t
| was this opening which saved my life.
II had partly risen from the ioist
to reach a point few inches above my
head when l felt the house SWAY a
little. Before l could turn my head
to see what was the matter, or make
the slightest move to save myself,
there was a creaking and groaning
and the entire structure folded up and
fell out into the road.
Head Forced Through Opening.
1.-The jar thrust my head through
the opening and before l knew exact
ly what had happened 1 was on the
| ground with my body beneath a pile
of wreckage. A large beam on which
/ had been sitting had neld in place
just long enough for my body to fall
beneath it, and this lay across me.
| on top of it was piled a mass of
lumber, and sheeting, and I felt that
the weight was crushing the life out
of me.
II do not know just what happened
| after that except that several persons
rushed over to me and began doing
what they could to get me free. Then
1 was put in the ambulance and
| brought home. The doctor told me
that he could not tell whether l would
live or not. ] know that 1 am bad
| ly crushed, and there is no part of
my body which is not aching and pain
ing me more than can be imagined
The injured man was suffering in
tensely and his story was told slowly
and between the groans, which the
severe pain wrung from him. A num-
Der of his fellow carpenters called at
| his home, and by them and Mrs. futile
| everything possible is being done to
make him comfortable. BY this morn
ing the internal injuries, which are
the most to be feared, will have de-
veloped sufficiently for the physician
to tell whether there is a chance for
recovery.