ANOTHER "STEEPLEJACK" KILLED.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 9010, 15 October 1892, Page 2 (Supplement)

ANOTHER "STEEPLEJACK" KILLED.

A " steeplejack" named Ralph Woods, of Warrington, met with a terrible death at St. Helens on August 8. Woods and a fellow-workman named Mains were in the employ of Messrs. Bidder and Co., chimneybuilders and repairers, Manchester, who were carrying out some necessary repairs to a chimney built in 1882 to a height of 183 ft. This was the first time either of the men had been employed on the job, and, Contrary to expectation, they did not arrive until half-past four o'clock, having spent some hours on the road from Warrington. The men immediately ascended the chimney by the ladder* attached to the outside, and remained at the bop about a couple of hours. At half-past six the men descended and ; visited the Queen's Arms Hotel, and asked to be supplied with some drink. For obvious reasons, however, the landlady declined to serve them. About half an hour later both men returned to the works, and again mounted to the top of the chimney. Their operations soon attracted a crowd of some hundreds of persons to the vicinity of the works, and it was a general remark that the men went about their work with considerable vigour, if not with a degree of daring. About half-past seven one of the men was seen to push over some stones and bricks, and directly afterwards was seen to stagger. A moment later the onlookers were horrified to see him fall headlong to the ground, and after turning round in its descent, the body alighted with a thud on the floor. Several persons at once ran to the spot, and found that the unfortunate man's body was terribly mangled. His skull had dropped on the edge of a brick, crushing it into the earth ; and an examination by Dr. Bates, who was summoned, revealed the fact that every bone in the lifeless body was smashed to piece?. The deceased man, Ralph Woods, was 30 years of age. He leaves a widow and some children, but it is stated that his own home was broken up a week or two previous. He only returned to work on Monday after a month's stoppage. Mains, his fellow-work-man, stated on Tuesday that he and the deceased were working back to back at different sides ab the top of the chimney Deceased was using a small crowbar, and Mains supposed that in pushing over the bricks and stones Woods overbalanced himself, or his clothing caught a portion of the debris, causing him to fall to the bottom. He did not see the occurrence, but heard Woods call out, Oh, dear." He imme- ' diately turned round, and Woods then dis- ■ appeared. '