Amador ledger., 1904-01-29
FATAL ACCIDENT AT zEILA
John Silva Struck by a Rock and In.
stantly Killed

About four O'Clock on Tuesday after
noon pail of sadness was thrown
around the home of jain Silva when
the announcement came down from the
leila mine, whore he was employed, of
his having been killed. In fact, the
expressions of sorrow over his untimelv
end were on the lips of the entire COM
munity as the news of the tragedy
spread. 1t seems that Mr. Silva and
his partner had about finished up the
stope at the 1900 level, in which they
were working, and preparatory to
leaving it were cleaning up all the
stray patches of ore to be found. In
his search for scattered bits of ore.
Silva had found quite slab on the
hanging wall over his head. He se-
cured bar and set about to pry it off.
For some little time the rock resisted
his efforts, and he, possibly thinking it
more secure than was really the case.
ventured too near, when, without a
moments warning the rock came down
with a crash. pinning his head between
1t and one of the outer posts of set of
timbers. The fatal result was almost
instantaneous, as the victim was only
heard to utter two words afterward.
those being the name of his partner.
The alarm was given Immediately, but
before the other miners in the vicinity
reached the spot, life was extinct, and
John Silva had finished his last shift.
AS soon as possible the remains were
taken out of the mine, and the coroner
notified, who conveyed the departed
loved one to the homo of his grief
stricken wife. An inquest was held
Wednesday morning, at which the facts
as above stated were brought out Mr..
Silva was a native of Portugal, having
come to this country early in life. He
had lived in jackson for more than ten
| years past, where as a man and miner
he was known as one of the best. He
had been in the employ of the leila for
almost year, and Manager Detert
pays him great tribute not only for his
skill as miner, but for his sterling
| character as a man. He is survived by
wife, one child of his own, and four
step-children, his wife being a widow
at the time of their union. While his
demise is severe and irrepar-
able loss to Mrs. Silva, from an in
cident in their lives learned from an
acquaintance just after the fatal catas-
trophe, it was the sad fulfillment of a
constant fear which was ever present
in her heart. AS the story goes, Mrs.
Silva had accompanied her husband to
the shaft at the Kennedy mine, where
he was then working, on one occasion,
and just as he was about to step into
the skip to go down, as was her usual
custom she kissed him good bye"
The incident brought smile to the
countenance of a witness standing by,
and she explained to him that each
time Mr.. Silva left her to go into a
mine she was possessed of the morbid
fear that he might never return alive,
and that this was an invariable token
of last farewell. The decedent was
an honored member of the local lodges
OF Knights of Pythias, A. o. U. W.,
Foresters OF America, and the Miners
Union, all of whom contributed their
share in making the burden of sorrow
as light as possible for the grieving
loved ones. The funeral occurred from
the home of deceased, aud was con-
Quoted under the auspices of the
Knights of Pythias, assisted by all the
other fraternities of which he was a
mem ber.