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THE EVENING NEWS

FRIDAY, : : : JUNE 18, 1880

FIVE MEN KILLED.

THREE OTHERS MORE OR LESS
INJURED.

A Truck and Carload of Tools Pre-
cipitated 3000 Feet to the Bottom
of the Yellow Jacket Shaft.

At 11:30 today occurred at the Yellow Jacket shaft one of those terrible accidents which seem inseparable from deep mining. At that hour Frank Hammond, shift boss, with seven of his men, stood on the skip in the bottom of the shaft. They had just rung five bells, the signal to hoist men, it being their intention to go to the surface and eat their dinners. Just then, with a terrible thunder, and dealing death in all directions, there came down upon the men a carload of tools and the truck of a car. Four of the eight men were instantly killed and all the others wounded.

Following is a list of the dead: Neil Gallagher, Alfred Temby, Tim Wilkins and E. Whitcomb.

The others with Hammond on the cage were John Trezona, who had his thigh broken; H. WIlliams, arm crushed and nearly torn off, and Barney Coyle, who was hurt in the side and shoulder, but was able to climb to the 3000 level.

Hammond received a slight wound in the left jaw, but was otherwise uninjured, while Gallagher, who stood next him on the skip, had his head taken completely off.

The scene at the bottom of the shaft as seen by Hammond ws most fearful, as indeed it must have been, with the dead and mangled lying all about and he alone able to render them any immediate assistance.

Fortunately there were at the 3000 level four men at work who were uninjured, and by their assistance the dead were removed and the living cared for as well as possible till they could be taken to the surface. This was done as soon as possible, and the dead were laid on rude couches temporarily placed in the changing room and the wounded were taken into the bathroom where beds had been placed and where physicians stood ready to attend to their wants.

The cause of the accident was plainly visible from the surface. A cage was coming up the south compartment on which was a car loaded with tools. It had reached within forty feet of the top when the truck of the car escaped from under it, tilting the body and throwing both truck and tools from the cage into the adjoining compartment north and precipitating them all to the sump of the shaft 3000 feet below where the men stood waiting to be raised to the surface. The body of the car was firmly wedged in among the timbers of the shaft and had not the engineer been watchful and instantly stopped the engine when he saw something was wrong, very likely the entire cage, a tank of water under it and another car on it would all have gone to the bottom, killing everybody there.

The news of the accident flew to Gold Hill, and even before the unfortunate men were raised to the surface the works were crowded by men anxious to know the particulars of the accident, who was killed and who hurt. The gathering increased rapidly and strong men stood at the top with bated breath and tear-dimmed eyes waiting for the appearance at the surface of the cage as it came slowly from the depths below. Never moved funeral procession so slowly, so sadly, so solemnly. When at last the cage reached the surface and the agony of suspense was over, tears of rejoicing mingled with those of bitterest grief.

The killed and wounded are all well-known in Gold Hill.

Temby leaves a young wife and two children, his wife having recently given birth to the second.

Neil Gallagher leaves a wife and two children, and his wife is about to be confined.
Whitcomb also leaves a wife and family. He has worked in the shaft from the top to the bottom.

Wilkins was the only single man of those killed.

P. S.–Since writing the above Williams has died. His arm was literally torn from his body and he was otherwise badly bruised.

From the breast of Gallagher a piece of iron weighing about six pounds was taken. The bodies of the dead were all very badly mangled.

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