St.
Louis, Missouri
Brown Shoe Company
Elevator Accident
February 9, 1904
TEN DROP TO THEIR DEATH
EMPLOYES OF THE BROWN SHOE COMPANY AT ST. LOUIS
CROWD AT ELEVATOR.
BREAK DOWN THE GUARDS
And Shove Those Next to the Carriage Into the
Shaft and To a Fatal Fall of Six Stories.
St. Louis, Jan. 13 – A crowd of employes
pressing against an elevator gate tonight on the
sixth floor of the
Brown Shoe company building caused
ten persons to plunge down the shaft. Six were
taken out dead and of the other four two died in
the hospital and two are fatally injured. The
dead:
JOSEPH PROVANZENIK.
GEORGE ROTHMANN.
ANTONIO GIACOMA.
LORENZ GIACOMA.
Three unidentified.
Fatally injured:
Tony Kirschner.
William Pearson.
James Johnson,
the elevator operator, was arrested pending an
investigation. Johnson said the elevator door
did not break, but that it had been raised by
the employes [sic] while waiting for the car to
descend to the floor, and suddenly the employes
[sic] in the rear of the crowd began pushing,
precipitating them down the shaft. Factory
Superintendent Fray
corroborated Johnson’s story.
Decatur Herald, Decatur, IL 15 Jan 1904
Transcribed by
Jenni Lanham. Thank you,
Jenni!
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