Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-09-01
MEETS INSTANT DEATH
Samuel Maloney the Victim
of Electric Shock.
AN INQUEST ORDERED
BREAKING OF THE FEED WIRE IN
TUNNEL.
Several Workmen Injured - Laborers
Employed on Excavations for Con-
gressional Office Building.
AN INQUEST ORDERED

! One man electrocuted and several others
| slightly shocked was the result OF an acci-
| dent that occurred this morning on the
| square south Of the Capitol where "orN-
| men are digging an excavation iof TIC
| foundation Of the House of Representatives
annex. The accident occurred few min
utes after o'clock. and the body OF Samue.
Maloney. colored, who was killed. reached
| the morgue before o'clock. Antonio Ger
motte an Italian. twenty-sfx years DID, was
| badly burned about the arms and one hand.
| and was taken to the Casualty Hospital.
| DR.. Lloyd the resident physician, dressed
| the burns and made the patient comfort
| able. While the burns were painful. the
| surgeon said he did not anticipate serious
| results The accident was caused by the
| breaking of an electric feed wire, which
| crosses the excavation 10 furnish light IN
| the tunnel where the men are working.
There was an exciting time in the exca-
| walton when the break occurred, and sew
eral men who were upon or near the piS
steam shovel narrowly escaped being Sc.
| rousy injured Henry krusen the general
| foreman on the works. was near the shoFei
| at the time. but was not close enough to get
| a shock. d. F. Williams the engineer. and
| Eugene M. Pullen. the cranesman, were on
| the machine. but jumped in time to prevent
| injury. Charles Agastine, an Italian la
/
| wheels of the shovel, and was thrown from
| the track by the shock he received He re-
| fused to go to a hospital, but remained
| about the works until he was able to go to
his quarters.
| Capt. Cross who was on duty at police
| headquarters at the time the accident hap
pened, directed the officers of the fifth pre-
cinct to make a careful investigation and
| submit complete report of the affair to
| headquarters. Later in the morning Capt.
Boardman sent Detective Hewlett to the
| scene of the accident to conduct the invcsti-
cation. He saw the victims and witnesses,
| and will submit report of the affair this
| afternoon.
| Scene of the Accident.
| The place where the accident occurred is
| not far from 1st and streets. Thousands
of loads Of earth have already been remov-
| ed from the excavation and hauled away to
be used in the filing of the plaza at the new
| depot. Car tracks are being laid from the
| excavation to the plaza and this morning
| it was found necessary to Shift the steam
| shovel from one part of the excavation to
| another in order to facilitate the work Of
| removing the earth and laying thu tracks
| over which the small dirt carts are to pass.
| Stretched across the square were two cleo
| trio light wires which. il is stated, were
| charged with 1000 volts the transformer
| being a pole south of where the Bren-
nan Construction Company has charge of
! the work of making the excavation.
By having the transformer below the eX-
! cavation, Detective Hewlett was told. the
| use of large amount of big copper wire is
avoided. From the tranSforme- he was
| also informed. the voltage is reduced to
| 104. This force Is regarded by electricians
| as being harmless. Probably dozen or
| more men were assisting in the work Of
| shifting the steam shovel when the boom
| to which the shovel is attached came in
contact with one of the wires The end of
| the boom covered with grease. and as
soon the insulation on the wire had been
| cut the current charged the entire Machine.
| Engineer Williams one of the first to
| realize the danger and ne jumped from mis-
| position the heavy piece of machinery.
| Mr.. Pullen, the cranesman, followed and
| also saved himself from receiving what
| might have been fatal shock
Maloney Instantly Killed.
| Samuel Maloney was working on tracks
directly in front of the shovel and under
the two electric wires. Whether he was
| shocked by direct contact with the broken
wire or whether the current was conveyed
| to him through the tracks his fellow work.
| men cannot tell. 1t Is known that he was
| instantly killed, however, and that he prob
| ably did not realize what had happened.
| Antonio Germotte was more fortunate. He
was at the side Of. the big piece of ma
| chinery and had his arms about a jack
| that is attached to the machine. He re-
| ceived the current through the iron jack, it
| is stated. which accounts for the burns to
| IllS arms, WHICH were OmeWndC similar TO
| the burns received by the boy who was
| electrocuted on the show grounds last
| week, although they were much more Sc
| we're. Antonio screamed for assistance as
| soon as he felt the shock and workmen
| went to his relief.
The Workmen Frightened.
| Some Of them were afraid to touch him.
and two colored men resigned their posi-
| tons then and there.
!
| one of them said when he saw that Ma
| loney was dead, land IL it's just the same
| to you We'll meet you on the dump"
| 1t was satisfactory to the foreman and
the two laborers lost no time getting out
| side the Enclosure.
| Charles Agastine. one Of the injured la
borers. was In terribly nervous and
weakened condition. He was assisted a
| short distance from the machine and given
a seat on a box. The police wanted him
Z! to go to hospital and get treatment, but
| he declined, and, as already stated, re-
| NAMED about the works until later in the
day when he returned to his quarters
| Physicians declared Maloney was dead and
| his body was removed to the morgue by di-
rection of Acting Coroner Glazebrook.
| The superintendent Of the morgue was
told that the broken wire fell upon Ma
| loney, and also that it struck Germotte
Maloney was about twenty-six years old
and was native of Knoxville Tenn He
| IuoFeu " bditlnOTe several years ago. and
came here from that city to work for the
! Brennan Construction COMPANY II is
stated that he worked here two years ago
for a short time. Maloney told a counis
| Of friends on the works last night that he
felt as if something serious would hanpen
| to him. He made no suggestion az To
| what he thought it would be- bur his
| friends recalled the conversation this morn
ing when they heard that he had been
| killed.
INQUEST Ordered
Acting Coroner Glazebrook viewed the
body at the morgue and directed that an
inquest be held tomorrow morning at 1880
| o clock
1t is probable that the question of eiec-
trio wiring will be discussed at the hearing
tomorrow and experts examined upon the
question of the best manner to have snch
work done in order to insure safety. An
enort will be made to get representative
business men to serve upon the tury and
| also some person who Is familiar with elec
trical matters. The question Of having
such wires constructed under the sunervt
sion OF District inspectors may be mention
ed by the jurors in their verdict
Sheriff Declines Troops.
dispatch from Cripple Creek 10, ,.s,