HOME PAGE
THOMAS McAVINNEY KILLED WHEN TIMBERS BROKE
April 25, 1901. Thomas McAvinney, a miner in the employ of the Derby Lead Company, was instantly killed by a fall of pipe while attempting to hoist the pipe out of the shaft. The deceased was a married man, and the accident occurred in the following manner: The 3 p.m. shift on Monday began hoisting a 5-inch pipe line 200 feet long out of the shaft. Their plan was to attach the wire hoisting rope to the pipe, and after all clamps were loosened, to hoist until one length was above the collar of the shaft. Heavy clamps were attached to the pipe below a cross beam 2 feet 6 inch by 8 inches yellow pine timbers 8 feet between bearings, uncouple the top length and remove same, then attach wire rope below again and hoist with engine until a second length was above the top of the shaft, when this was uncoupled and removed as above. At the end of this shift, 11 p.m., three lengths had been thus removed. No work was done at the pipe during next shift, but at 7 p.m. on the 23rd, McAvinney and others started to remove the balance of the pipe. After having pulled up the pipe and fastened the clamps as previously, one of the men loosened the clamp above, to which the hoisting rope had previously been attached. McAvinney was standing on the 2-foot 6-inch by 8-foot timbers supporting the clamps which held the weight of the pipe and was within 18 inches of the surface, when the hoisting clamp was loosened and dropped down on the clamp below. Both timbers broke precipitating the pipe, timbers and McAvinney to the bottom of the shaft, a distance of about 190 feet. He was instantly killed.
These same timbers had previously sustained the weight of all the pipe the night before, besides the weight of two men, and when they broken they had on them 800 pounds less weight of pipe, besides the weight of one man less. The verdict of the coroner's jury was that deceased came to his death by the breaking of timbers on which he was standing.
[Taken from the 15th Annual Report of the Bureau of Mines and Mine Inspection of the State of Missouri for Year Ending December 31, 1901.]