The copper era and Morenci leader. [volume] (Clifton, Ariz.) 1911-1929, 1913-08-15

the breaking of this drawhead In
| the face of the break there was two
distinct flaws, or blow noles, dis
cernible. That told the story. The
jury continued to inspect the incline.
Further up a demolished ore bin was
testimony of the crash of the cars.
| The ground was plowed up, in some
instances on both sides of the track,
as the cars swerved from side to side
! in their mad race. Trees had been
chopped off like kindling wood that
stood several feet from the track and
all along was strewn bits of clothing,
chunks of human flesh, pieces of
| skull and bone.
| Finishing their inspection of the
incline the jury returned to Metcalf
and began the taking of testimony
| c. w. Mclean, one of the passen-
gers who jumped, was the first wit
ness examined. Mr.. Mclean was
standing on the cable at the back
end of the two cars as they were let
over the knuckle. There were six
men on the last car standing on the
| end and sitting on top. Mr.. Mclean
testified that the cable was hooked
| on properly with chains and pin. The
cars were started with no eXtraordin-
ary jerk. 1 have ridden on incline
! many times. AS soon as weight was
lully OH CdUIe II DIOhe 1OOoo- vi IL0
car upon which 1 was riding there
was Johnson, Liddell, Downey, Rune
trett, Scott, two MeXicans and my
self 1 judge there was about fif
teen or sixteen men on both cars.
don't know how l got Off. There
were two distinct breaks. Either
the pin or drawhead broke which was
followed by outside cable chains
breaking"
Mr. Liddell testified in substance:
Before | got on L saw cars hooked
to cable properly. 1 can't describe
my experience. There was a sound
Of something going wrong and I got
OF. got off by falling backwards
on the track as was standing on
the hind end next to the cable coup
ling"
Mr.. Downey testified: There was
two reports-a snap as if something
had broken The first snap was
the left hand side of last car sitting
on the ore with my feet hanging over
behind. Everything was hooked upl
properly before we started. l gave
myself a push off backwards and fell
of behind and rolled several feet"
Mr.. sBeals testified: Il was work. |
ing at foot OF incline and had att
tached my two cars ready for start. /
My cars moved up few feet and
stopped. 1 looked up incline and
saw other cars coming. My cars
only went about ten feet. They
started perfectly easy. L found the
broken piece of drawhead which had
been attached to cable this morning.
found it down in the pit at the
knuckle on top where it had drop
ped
y Mr. Payne testified: 81 was hand
ling the brakes on the Coronado in
cline when the accident happened.
1 was just taking the right brake of.
I start the cars by lifting the brake.
There is no slack in cable when the
first car goes over the knuckle. My
two helpers hooks the cable. 1t was
hooked properly yesterday. There
were about fifteen men on the two
cars which carried about the same
load as every day. I have seen that
many men on before. When the
drawhead broke 1 shouted jump.
I went down to the in
jured men who were short dis
tance below me. After looking at
the end of the cable L could see at
glance that the pin or drawhead had
broken. 1 found one side safety
cable broken
AL Lno COnCluSlOu Ol Tie loSIlIuOuy
the coroner's jury returned a verdict
caused by the breaking of an insult
ficiently strong and defective draw
head
General Managers Statement.
At the time of the accident General
Manager Norman Carmichael, of the
A. C. Co. Ltd, was at Longfellow,
several miles distant. Learning of
the disaster he hurried to Coronado
where hem ade arrangements for the
of the wounded and dead
10 Clifton and Morenci by special
trains. On Thursday mronin, in
company with Mine Superintendent
cation of the scene of the accident |
and was later present at the coron-
ers inquiry. When asked by an
Era man for a statement regarding ,
he sad affair Mr.. Carmichael said:
4 wish to express on benalf of the
their profound sorrow and
regret on account of the sad occur
renee, and would like you to convey
to the relatives of those who were
killed our deepest sympathy" {
When asked as to the cause of the
accident Mr.. Carmichael continued: {
"On going over the entire ground
and examining the broken parts, it {
was quite clear to me that the acci- I
dent was caused by the breaking of ]
the drawbar of the car attached to ;
the rope which lowers the cars down
the incline. These draw-bars are
made of malIeable cast iron in the ;
form of a rectangular hollow tube 4
inches one way by 315 inches the
other way, and are immensely strong
for the work they have to do. The
draIx ho |
flaw to have existed in the casting,
but which was not discernible from
the outside It is evident that from
this flaw there deUeINned q crack