Warner F. Cunningham, 37 years old, who has been employed in the mill of the Doe Run Lead Company at No. 16, running feeders, was killed Thursday morning shortly after 7 o'clock, a few minutes after he went on shift for the day. The exact cause of death is unknown, since he was alone at the time of the accident. He was found at the foot of a flight of steps with his neck broken. He was found by Geo. McClary, of Elvins, a fellow employee.
Two theories are advanced as to the cause of death. One is that he slipped on the steps, which were wet and slippery and fell to his death on the concrete floor, a considerable distance below. The second theory is that he may have come in contact with an electrically charged surface, through a short in a motor, causing him to fall. Dr. F. L. Keith, who was called to the side of the unfortunate man, favors the first theory.
The body was brought to the Rinke undertaking establishment in Flat River, where Coroner C. J. Hill, of Bismarck, held an inquest at 11 o'clock. The coroner's jury returned a verdict of accidental death, cause unknown. After the inquest, the body was prepared for burial and taken to the home of the unfortunate man's father, John A. Cunningham, who lives on a farm near Parkview Cemetery. At the time of going to press, the funeral arrangements had not been completed.
Warner Cunningham had never been married. He had worked around the Lead Belt for a number of years. For more than a year preceding his death he had boarded with the W. S. Bauman family in Flat River. His father is 84 years old. The only other surviving members of his immediate family is a sister, Mrs. Ed Lewis, of Elvins, and a brother, Percy Cunningham, who lives with his father on the farm.