CRUSHED TO DEATH.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1667, 6 February 1913, Page 7

CRUSHED TO DEATH.

IN A GOODS ELEVATOR, i ' '. —; —-. . ■' r A shocking accident, resulting in l the. .. death of James Hanratty, lieacl storoman, occurred at the Victoria StTeet bulk Btor» . of Messrs. E. W. Mills and Co. at .about , ' , 10.45 a.m. yesterday. A large 3-ton elcc- •; trie goods elevator, about 8 feet square,' . • runs through the building. ; Tho ' lift l merely consists'of a squaro wooden plat>' form, connected :with runners on each side, and is used to convey all the 1 bulk ' goods stored above the ground' floor, to . tho different floors. Hanratty had just brought down a number of casks of plas- : ter Of Paris from the top floor, which werp to, bo takeniaway ili a cart which was bneked into deposition near the lift' ; )vell. To make theYoonncction in-order,.to run tho ca,sks\directly into the cart, thoruiifortunate man stopped'the lift Wen its floor was about four fcot from tho bot- . torn, And bridged the spaea between tho ' Hit and the:cart',with'a boiirrt , iOn , Jl , \vhicli ' ho rolled the casks down. Ho was so engaged when, by some means or other, ".Y tho lift commenced to ascend, ; nnd Hanratty was caught between the top of tlio ' lift well opening, and tho floor of the ;:.Y moving elevator, and was crushed badly ■ , about the chest and abdomen. He was ■ heard by tho driver of tho cart to groan ' "I'm done!" and almost immediately af» Y ; terwards tlio man died. ' No ono- could i for a time got at tho lever to drop tho lift and so release lh« body. An employee, Mr. Clinrlv I'erry, slid down' tho lift well, but loiild not get the lift fa work owing to something , having been thrown out of .gear bf tho . stoDpogo of the lift, whilst the power was ' I still on. It was only after rtrepuous 1 efforts on tho part of Mr. Archibald - Forbes, the malinger of tho department, , , that the lift was lowered sufficiently to .allow of the release of the body lialf-an-hour after tho accident. - Mr. ,W. T. Bray, secretary for Messrs. Arthur CocksandCo.. wholesale opticians, 1 whosn offices arc on tho first, floor of tho. Y: " building, heard the thud and an unusual.. ! noise mado liv tho lift gear. On looking ■' down tho well he saw Hanratty's position, ' and opining that something serious hod. happened he rushed downstairs and found > nonrotty dead in/ tho lift, no at onco 1 1 Tan off to summon'medical assistance, anil Drs.-Bpgg, FyfTe, and Bivart wero Boon ■ • on the snot. ' - - Hanratty ;hns lv«cn initio employ of - 1 'Mefsrs. E.YW. .Mills for abmit.'a quarter , , of a contury And was.regarded as a care-,, , | ful, sternly, mid reliable man.- Tlio do-' I ceased, 1 who; was >bnut. 48 years of are, , , had resided- at Wadestown' for over' M . years.- and; was a member of . the local school committee. Ho leaves a wife, tlire* sons, and a daughter. .