The Mena weekly star., 1919-10-09
ENGINEER KILLED
 BY EXPLOSION
H.. F. Casebolt of Commonwealth Company Is Victim of Defective Ammonia Drum, According to a
 Coroner's Jury-H. s. Linn Hurt.

Coroner's Jury-H. s. Linn Hurt,
 II. F. Casebolt, chief engineer at the plant of the Commonwealth Pub- lie Service Company, was instantly killed, and- H. s. Linn, bystander, was shocked and burned by the ex- plosion of an ammonia drum at the conapany's ice plant on Sunday. The accident occurred about 12:10 o'clock.
 L. c. Casebolt, son of the deceased, living at 406 Fourth street, his back ward little more than the width of the alley from the location of the drum, was the first on the scene after tho explosion, endangering his own life by going thru the ammonia fumes to the aid of his father, but when he reached him was mortified to find life sxtlncr The body was at once taken to the Patton undertaking establish ment. Mir. Linn, who according to his own testimony, stood about eight feet from the tank, was knocked down by the force of the explosion, and he sui fered burns to his eyes, nose, throat, and lungs from the fumes. He was taken to the office of Dr.. B. H. flaw kins for treatment, and in short time was able to be out.
 Mr Casebolt was horribly burned on the face and other parts of the body by the ammonia, and he may have been struck by the drum, which was thrown into the L. c. Casebolt backyard, distance of some sixty or seventy-five feet.
 Coroner's Jury Returns Verdict.
 In the absence of Dr. c. A. Camp bell, the coroner, l. N. Burnett, jus tice of the peace, empannelled jury and held an inquest to fix, if possible, the cause of the accident. Sheriff Thornton summoned the following as jurors; W. A. Wilson, Clint Eddy, l.. N Clark, Fred Duke, w. L. Parker, John Martin, Sidney W. Duke, w. A. Finks. ". A. Cannon, A. T. Speedlin, J. H. McMillan and A. A. Zachary. After viewing the body of the dead nan, going to the scene of the acci- dents and after examining l.. G. Case holt, H. $. Linn, H. c. Johnson, B. J. uanley and George J. Clark, the jury returned the following verdict:
 State of Arkansas, County of Polk.
 An inquisition taken on the 5th
 gay of October, 1919, at Mena, in
 said county and state, before L. N.
 Burnett, justice of the peace, and
 acting coroner of said county and
 State aforesaid, upon the viewing of
 te dead body of II. r. Casebolt and
 the scene of the explosion, and upon
 examination of witnesses, we, the
 jury, say that H. F. Casebolt came
 b his death on account of the ex-
 plosion of a defective ammonia
 drum operated by the Common
 wealth Public Service Company at
 their plant at Mena, Polk county,
 Arkansas. W A. Wilson,
 Foreman.
 H. s. Linn, the only eye witness to the accident, testified before the cor oner's jury, that he stood within eight feet of Mir. Casebolt, who was stand ing beside the drum, wrench in hand, when the explosion occurred, but he does not know whether Mir. Caseboh attempted to do any work on the drun l. q Casebolt. out of the win dow from his home, saw his father standing before the drum just moment before the explosion, but he did not see him do anything. George J. Clark. commercial manager of the Commonwealth company, testified that Sir. Casebolt had told him during the morning that he would detach the drum from it's connection with the ex- pansion pipe and get it ready for shipment to the National Ammonia Company of St. Louis, owners of the drum, so the supposition is that MT. Casebolt, thinking the drum was emp ty, was ready to detach it when the explosion occurred,
 Funeral Tuesday Afternoon.
 
 The funeral services for Mir. Case bolt were held at o'clock Tues day afternoon at the home, 504 Fourth street, and were in the charge of the Rev F. F. Harrell, pastor of the First A. K. Church, South. After the serv- ices the remains were taken to De- Witt, Mo. for burial.
 The accident thru which Mir. Case vvil came to ms ueagn touched tine public of Mena very closely, in view of the fact that his employment was of semi-public nature. Then, too. he vas q very likable man, and while not many in Mena had the opportunity to become acquainted with him for the reason that he was so steadily on the lob, yet all who knew him learned to respect him, and this respect was shown by large attendance at the fuqeral services Tuesday.
 ur. Casebolt had been in the em- ploy of the Commonwealth Public Service Company since August, 1918, and previous to that time he and Mrs. Casebolt had lived for six years at Cove. He reached the age of 57 years ? months and days, having been born December 28, 1861, in Saline county, Missouri On February 6, 1884. he was married at Norborn. Mo-,