Amador ledger., 1906-06-29
A TERRIBLE FALL.
A Miner falls Over Half a Mile in
the Kennedy ft--LlteraIly
Ground to Pieces.


Ground to Pieces.
trhe Kennedy mine. at the east
shaft, which is 5000 feet deep, was the
scene of a shocking accident last
Friday night. 1t was about IL
O'Clock, the men we're coming off
the afternoon shift. At the time of
the accident, seven men were ascend
ing the shaft, all standing on a
plank. 3 X II inches, placed on top OF
the skip. This was the customary
way of travelling. Often nine men
will ride on the skip in this way.
The ascent is made very swiftly,
taking only ABOUT two minutes to
reach the surface from the bottom.
Owing to the swift motion it is i'm
possible for the men to carry light
in making the ascent. They have to
travel in darkness both in their up
ward and downward flight.
Chiesa, young Italian. had been
working that shift in the sinking
| operation below the 1850 level. His
partner was Frank Beneditto, for
whom he was tending chuck. Both
we're coming out at the same time.
1t is imperative in coming up to
keep an erect position, as move
ment of the head a few inches either
way Is. apt to cause a collision with
the tim bers of the shaft. When about
$50 feet from the surface those on
| the skip felt sudden jerk and the
plank upon which they were standing
broke, letting them down upon the
water kegs in the skip. They real
lied at once that something was
amiss. Chas Kohler, one of the seven,
cried out "Stay with 1t boys" On
reaching the surface, the inquiry was
made. "AIe you all here" There
upon Frank Beneditto noticed that
his partner, Chlesa, was missing.
Three men consisting of John Nit
chell, the foreman, Frank Beneditto
and John Ferri descended the shaft
on the sad mission of hunting for the
missing man, realizing that he had in
some way been pulled from the skip,
and had gone down the awful abyss of
the deepest shaft in the state. Not
only this, but they also knew, that
to get below the skip he must have
passed through the narrow space of
eight inches between the skip and the
shaft, and that of itself meant a
crushing of body beyond recognition.
| Only fragmentary pieces of the
| mangled body we're recovered, scatter
ed from where the accident occurred
to the bottom of the shaft. 1t was
the most shocking sight of mangled
humanity that has been witnessed in
Amador county.
How the accident happened is a
matter of conjecture, although
there is not much room for a
diversity of opinion on this point.
Chiesa. it is supposed, attempted to
look up the shaft. or shifted his
position so that either his mead OF
shoulder came in contact with the
centre brace. The swift moving skip
crushed his body against the shaft
and let it drop into the halt mile of
shaft below. Those on the skip
heard not a moan or sound of any
kind from the victim when he went
to is DEATH He must have been kill
ed instantly. He was 2S years of age,
a native of Italy, and had been en-
ployed at the Kennedy for fourteen
months.
Coroner Huberty held an inquest
upon the remains the following day.
The jurors. were W. Tam, @. Siri,
W. o. Green, H. L.. Moore, G. M.
Kelly, Max Ladar, Thomas Bolitho,
V. Talent, A. l.. Meek and Theo.
Schwartz. After hearing the testi-
mony of four witnesses. Web Smith,
John Mitchell, Frank Beneditto,
Uhas Kohler and Henry Laharge, a
verdict was brought in that deceased
came to his death by accidentally
falling off the skip.
The funeral took place on Sunday,
many of the miners with whom the
deceased had worked followed the
sad cortege to the cemetery.