Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1915-08-21

The above verdict was returned al
+ 1880 this morning by the jury in the
. case Of Mrs. Edna Collins. Who met
horrible death at $50 yesteday after
noon, by falling FIVE floors down the
freight elevator shaft at Young & Nc
/ Combs store. The inquest was opened
at 10 o'clock by Coroner r. G.: J.
Meye at KnoZs undertaking parlors.
la spite Of the great number Of wit
Desscs examined no evidence was
brought out to show how the elevator
cage was moved to the fifth floor of
the building during Mrs. Collins abb
sence Although tine theory was
brought out that the levator might
have slipped up without anyone Oper-
atiug il, nothing was brought out to
sUhstauuate this view. and the ma
j0rity Of the members of the jury were
inclined To believe that the cage was
moved by someone. AS far as could be
learned no one saw the girl take the
fatal plunge, and just how she came to
fall viii Always remain unexplained, it
is thought
Mrs Eva Aushrook. 1882 Third ave
nue.. cook fin the kitchen on the fourth
floor. who rode zap with Mrs. Collins
just before her faIL gave the most
connected story Mrs. Ausbrook stat
ed that the two had been in The tea
. room and returned 10 the kitchen by
. the elevator with a truck tuu Of sup
plies.
Elevator Man Absent
EDNA stood al the bottom of the
shaft and rang for some minutes for
( the elevator man. William Conrad. who
was on the first floor. After some de-
lay he came down with the elevator. %
she said. AT the same moment the
man operating the elevator in the Of
fee lobby in the front of the Best
building came in and told Conrad that
/ the cable was twisted on the elevator
and that he would like to have him
fix 1t. As 5he engineer was not present
Conrad told Mrs Collins that he would
have TO go to fix the elevator in front.
( Alright said Mrs. Collins, III take
. the elevator up myself. 1 know how to
run IT,
with that she asked NE TO step on
and she started the elevator and ran IT
. to the fourth floor. She ran just a bit
TOO high. then lowered it again but
: ran below the floor. Then she ran the
elevator up even with the floor and
opened the door and stepped out. go
+ ing to the kitchen door to hold it open
( so she could enter with the truck. She
pushed the truck into the kitchen and
sat down on the stool d few minutes
and chatted and then walked out to
/ go back down the elevator and that is
the last saw Of her alive. I could
T not see her after she passed out Of the
door" said Mrs Ausbrook.
Mrs. Mary Moore. who resides in
/ Sears and who was employed tenn
/ porarilv I'm the kitchen stated that she
saw Mrs Collins when she came into
the kitchen She seemed in the best
of spirits and chatted gaily for a few
minutes. AS she went out she picked
/ up q butcher knife and a steel sharp
I euer. stating that she would take the
knife down ana sharpen ii. Mrs.
/ Moore stated that she did not see her
after she left the kitchen.
The knife and steel sharpener were
afterward found lying on small ia
Bile near the elevator shaft. tt was
brought out that Mrs Collins left the
doors open when she went TO the kitch-
en- But whether she uncOnsciously
stepped into the open shaft or whether
she was trying to bring the cage back
from the fifth floor by pulling the ca
Bile. viii probably never he known.
Employed but Short Time.
william Conrad. the operator, testi-
fed that he went to work at the store
Monday morning to take the place Of
the regular elevator man. Mr.. vii
liams. who is on his first vacation in
IA years at the store. He stated that
Just before Mrs, Collins rang for the
elevator he had taken load OF stock
from the fifth floor and unlOaded it
on the first foor. After she rang he
brought the elevator to the basement
and at the same moment ne was called
90 the front of the store TO fix the ele-
vator in the lobby He stated that
Mrs. Collins declared she would take
the elevator up herself and he left
them just as they were ready TO
ascend and did not see her again until
he assisted in lifting her body from
the elevator pit.
Conrad said that he had understood
that the other employees were under
strict orders not to run the elevator,
but claimed he had never been told of
this rule personally. When asked why
he let Mrs. Collins run il and permit
ted none of the other clerks 10 touch
the elevator. he stated that she was
the only one 70 ask 70 operate it. He
stated that she had run il up several
times while he was on the elevator
and seemed 10 he careful about oper-
ating st.
Carl Il. Truedson. manager Of the
credit department. contradicted Con-
RAIDS testimony. when he stated that
Conrad had been given strict orders
not to let anyone but himself operate
the freight elevator. Also that it had