Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1917-05-05
ELECTRIC SHOCK
TAKES INVOLVES
Arthur Yanbeceiaere and Julius he
Schyver Instantane0usly Killed
i'm East Moline Plant.

Arthur EanbeceIaere. aged 80 1l4
Fifteenth avenue, East Moline. and
Julius De schyvert. aged a. Twelfth
avenue. same city, were killed by eIec.
trio shock shortly after IL last night
in the plant OF the Moline Scale com
pany. Fourteenth avenue and ELey-
enth street, East Moline.
Vanbececlaere was the first % r.
ceiye the shock De schyver met his
death when he went 10 the assistance
Of the other man Death in both III
stances was instantaneous. The body
Of neither was burned, indicating
voltage high enough to cause the
heart OF each TO stop funCtI0u.uz but
not Of sufficient strength TO scar the
flesh A short circuit was respuu-
sible for the double fatality, but shat
caused the short circuit has not been
discovered.
The two men were working At
Earring machine when NaubeeeIaere
was trapped by the Juice The tHo
men we're employed as sand cutters
and the Earring machine is used to jar
sand down into the casting for the
portable scales.
The machine was not ia operation
at the time The w3rkmen had just
completed an operation and had We,
down the sand The floor was wet
furnishing an excellent conductor for
the electricity While the machine
was not running the switch which
controls the power was open, as st
usually is
It is not known whether Van
beceIaere came into contact with
wire He was suddenly stricken and
De Schyver sprang 10 his assistance.
When other wOrkmeu turned 90 see
what was wrong both men were dead
Naubecetaere had been employed a
the plant for six OF seven years De-
Schyver was hired yesterday and was
working in the factory for the FIRST
time
In the daytime the machinery is
operated by the compauy's own power
plant which provides 40 volts At
night, however. the wiring is con
nected with the Peoples Power Go.
wires There are transformers in the
plant. however. which reduced the
voltage to approximately 40 volts
Examination of the bodies bv ply
gicians today showed that there were
no burns and that the blood Of neither
man had been carbonized, as is usual
IN case Of electTocuti0u The facr
that the blood was not carbouized in
dicates the men were killed by low
voltage. and died from shock
Many theories were put forth today
in an attempt 10 explain the accident
The wires are carried from the ma
chine down through the floor tn con
duit and one theory is that water has
caused the conduit and wire insuIa-
ti0u to deteriorate. causing the short
circuit.
Manager C. H. Vincent today de-
clared he was at loss to explain the
accident.
we have often had complaints
from the day men that ghey had re-
ceived slight shocks In that room but
as a rule these have been due to care
less handling of metal We have
never had a complaint from night
man however" he said.
DR. George F, Johnson was sum
moned by workmeu at the plant bat
both men were dead when he arrived
Conditions at the plant when le and
others got there we're exactly as
they were when the two men were
electrocuted but none in rna party
was shocked which iucIiDes some to
believe that VanbeceIaere must have
come into contact with the MACHINERY
Coroner ]. @. Miller VIII hold an 11-
quest at the East Moline Uuderta ElnE
company moTEue Al this evening
both bodies having been removed TO
that place.
VanbeceIaere is survived by
daughter in Union Grove. Wis. and Is
understood to have other relatives
there His wife died year ago