Year: 1868

Last night, at o'clock, (says the Virginia
Enterprise of May 2Sth, one of the most hors
rible mining accidents it has ever been our
duty to chronicle, occurred at the new shaft
of the Hale & Norcross mine, and by which
a miner named John Russell, native of
Nova Scotia, met with instant death. The
woIkmen were employed at the third station
"a distance of SIS feet from the surface
substituting new station timbers for the ones
used temporarily in opening out at that level.
The ground at that point is very heavy, and
while some of the timbers were being moved,
commenced to cave from the outside, towards
the shaft. Each man tried to take care of
himself, and Russell, together with a fellow
miner named McCarty, iumred upon the cage
which was hanging in the shaft at that point.
Some one told them to get off, or they would
be hurt, but Russell, instead of getting off,
climbed up the cage and thence to the top of
the guide, of which he got astride facing the
tmbers at the north of the shaft then he
spoke to McCarty, who remained below, and
told him to ring up" and they would I" get
out of there" The guide on which he
climbed is used in sinking as to direct the
cage in the proper place before the tmbers
are set. 1t is of wood, and the cross-piece at
the top is about fifteen inches in width and
distance of twelve feet above the top of the
cage. McCarty did as directed, gave the
signal, and the cage started up the shaft,
Russell saying he was I" all right" When
the cage came within four sets of timbers
of the second station, Russell cried out,
Stop" An instant after the cage came
in sight of the station man, who was horri-
fed at seeing the headless body of Russell
astride the crosspiece of the cage-guide, his
hands clutching the timber and the blood
spouting from the body. Instantly he stop-
ped the cage. An examination was made;
and it was found that the pantaloons and
drawers of the unfortunate man were caught
between the cage-guide and the guides in the.
shaft, his pants partially torn off. and one of
his boots almost drawn from his foot. The
cage was hoisted few feet further and the
body disengaged by cutting the timbers of
the shaft, the hands were unclasped from the
guide timber, and the body taken into the
second station and transferred to the cage in
the next compartment and raised to the sur
face. The manner of the accident is en-
plainable easily from the position in which
the body was found. Russell, in coming up,
by some means got his clothes entangled in
the guide he cried out Stop !" and at the
same time stopped forward to release his leg
from the guide. In STOPPING, he extended
his head so far that the cross-beam struck
him and instantly severed the head from the
body, which suddenly bereft of life, was
held in the place where found by the con-
vulsive grasp of the hands to the guide. A
subsequent examination of the timbers of the
shaft showed the beam which caught his
head, and which was smeared with blood
and matted hair. while on the set below was
found scattered fragments of the brains of the
unfortunate man. Mr.. McCarty, who was
below on the cage, was drenched with blood,
which at the time he supposed to be water
dripping from the shaft The guide and the
cage in the other compartment, as well as
the timbers, were also covered with blood
Immediate search for the head was made, but
it could not be found. Doubtless it was
crushed in pieces and fell to the bottom of the
shaft and was covered with falling earth,
several tons of which actually became de-
tached and went to the bottom. In all prob.
ability it will never be recovered, except as
an occasional remnant may be dug out during
future excavations. The deceased had been
at work in the mine for about six months;
and bore an excellent reputation as faith
full workman and genial companion. He was
% years of age, and leaves wife in his nas
tive place. The accident, although one of
the most terrible in the already sanguinary
list of this county, was the result of his own
unfortunate carelessness. Coroner Gartrell
held an inquest on the body this afternoon,
and the jury returned verdict in accordance
with the facts as above stated.