The Vermont Tribune, Ludlow, Friday, December 11, 1885

Death in a Shaft  12/11/1885

Another accident has happened in the new Croton aqueduct, at Merritt's
Corners, N. Y.  It occurred early Monday morning, at shaft No. 3, and
resulted in the deaths of four men and the probable fatal injury of a
fifth. The men were descending to work in one of the buckets used for
lowering them down the shaft.  Before the bucket had descended many feet, a
cross beam or "billy," as it is called by the miners, used to steady the
buckets, caught in the shaft and remained fast until the bucket had almost
reached the bottom, when it shook loose and came crashing down, a distance
of over one hundred feet, on the heads of the unfortunate men.  Four were
instantly killed, and teh other man will probably die of his injuries.

Transcribed by Ruth Barton
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Ruth Barton
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Dummerston, VT

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