The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-03-13
w. ]. Weir and John
WhiteIaw's Fate.
wo of Raieigh's Old and Highly Is
teamed Citizens Pinned and kifleo
nv Eleven Thousand Pound Boiler
as Wagon Overturned Near
Rock Quarry.

Rock Quarry.
Jack Weir is dead. John WHITE
Law. is dead. i terrible accident at
the citv rock quarry. and the men
crushed to DEATH was the stafiilh8
message that flew about the city
shortly before one o'clock yesterday
and as the truth Of the terrible diS-
aeter became known expressions OF
grief and sympathy came from all
quarters.
Both were old men. and the major
norton Of their lives had been spent
in Raleigh. where they had lived Slhc@
carly manhood. Here they hdd
reared children. and granddaughter
had been added to their 1amllleS.
Men Of splendid rcpute, WofkefS 70
the very last Omc Of thclr eAl9I-
ence. their sad fate affected all anu
The nity of the taking off becomes more
keen AS. il is remembered that THESE
men. one past the three score II ten
and the other close to II, were JuSI
em~barking in a new enterprise, with
all their aIertness n OF
Young fellows in their prime.
The story of the disaster is a brief
one. Having leased the rock quarry
for a company. of which they were
the heads. they had bought a Dig ne"
boiler. and this was beng hauIed 10
the quarry. Messrs. Weir and Whlle-
law walking near the side at the rear.
Going down the incline, as the road
turns from the Fedora cemetery to
the UuarrV. a broker iron Cuft al
lowed the woodwork above the IRON
axle of the rear wheel to break off as
the heavy load jOIted off a rock IN
the road, the supports snapped II
H., Alayra7, tlnIl 90 nd rDnnd DOllef
dropped to the left swiftly, the end
of the immense weight striking II
crushing the skull of John WhitelaW
as it drove him to the earth, while W.
J. Weir was crushed against the adj
Joining bank and his life squeezed out
of him. WhiteLaW died instantly.
while Weir lived for some twenty or
twenty-five minutes. The terrible ac-
cident occurred at 1870 and by 100
o'clock Mr.. Weir was dead.
The Fatal Haul.
Recently q company was formed,
this the Wake Granite Company, n
it secured the lease of the city rock
quarry. The president of the COM
pany was Mir. w. j. Weir, he vice
president Mr.. John WhitelaW. and the
other stockholders Messrs. john {.
DreWry, H. f. Smith. aud j. w,
Lynch. New apparatus for orkln
the quarry was being Installed. and
the company having purchased an en-
CINE from the city bought q neM
boiler, this Weighing lever thousand
pounds. Yesterday morning a heavy
hau~liug-WagOn was secured from Will
liam Mangum and two span of horses
pulled this after the boiler had been
loaded on at the southern freight
depot, the horses being driven by {.
l.. WoOdalI and Will Solomon.
The heavy load was carried through
tho 1jtNv = ma ONT - ct tho EAl n1-1I ON
etery in safety, MessTs. Weir and
WhitelaW going along in Mr.. Weir's
buggy, and using his small pony. At
time one or the other of The men would
get down and direct the driving, which
was slow. Beyond the Federal ceme-
terry the Dad bends to the right, back
towards the city. and is Inclined. with
numbers of rocky lodges. Messrs.
Weir and Whitaker left the buggy,
and with a force of hands began eau
tiously at the drive down the hill.
one span of horses. those in front.
out. but the rear horses failed to pull
the load, so MI. Woodall put in his
horses again. NOrfeet Perry. a negro.
Was engaged in checking the wheels
on the incline, while working in NOV
ing the boiler were Charles AdeA and
Lewis Riggan, white. Joe Bert and
John Gotten, colored. All these we're
assisting in Working the heavily load
ed wagon over the rocks. Steadily the
front wheels went over the rocky ledge
and then came the real wheels.
Death in Nj Instant.
At this tire Messrs Weir II Whita-
ker We're almost together on the left
hand. near the rear of the wagon. be-
tween it and an ~cmbankment about
three feet high. Mir. Weir being a foot
or so ahead Of Mr.. WhiteIaW. AS the
rear wheels dropped from the ledge
tncfe was q ripping S0und of tearing
wood and quicker than it can be old
the immense Weight careened over
TO the left. As it did 50 the edge of
the boiler struck Mr. Whitelaw on the
head, crushing him against the earth,
While it pinned Mir. Weir in q haIf-sit-
ting posture against the bank. White
law was killed at once. his head being
CIuSlleQ as II 1T We're an Cgg-shelI.
While Weir was unconscious. his head
III the smoke stack opening. the pres
sure being on his chest. Quickly lack
screws were obtained and the boiler
Was lacked up. while willing mon also
Dug away he dirt SO as to lift Mr..
NelrS BODY out. He was still living
Nilen TINS WAS done, and after being
carried into an unoccupicd house near
ar hand owned by Mr.. y. II. Green. he
was given medical attention by DR..
Jas. X. Rogers, morphine being used
10 lessen the pain. He recovered con-
dlih StN tldl Jll1lGS asked to
De l1led up, DIS it eased his pain. In
twenty or thirty minutes he passed
away, wing quietly cross the bed. his
leet propped III q chair. Examination
showed that his ribs were broken and
me lett lung hurt. death being coused
by internal injuries.
Cause Of the Disaster.
EHanlnation Of the wagon and axle
showed that the woodwork above IN
real IRON 1X1n h01 L,,l-a,,
nat the IRON cuff holding the axle
ana woodwork together was worn out
and broken while a brace in the
Woo and iron was newly mended. It
Is told by one Of the men working
With the team that both the brace
and u cuff had been broken and
that yesterday morning the brace was
mended while the iron cuff was not.
The wood is old and shows much us
age, but it would appear that il the