Honolulu Republican, Volume IV, Number 492, 9 January 1902 — SOLOMON’S DEATH BY ACCIDENT [ARTICLE]

SOLOMON’S DEATH BY ACCIDENT

BURIED IN A MASS OF DEBRIS FELLOW WORKMEN TESTIFY THAT WALLS WERE BEING SPEEDILY DISMANTLED. Body Was Crushed to a Pulp When Brought From the P ie of Fallen Brick —Solomon, a Native of India and a British subject—Favorably Known as Industrious' Workman. A failing wall of the partially dismantled building belonging to T. H : Davies k Co., located on Kaahumanu j street. Instantly crushed out the life of Alexander Solomon, an East Inj d;an. and a native of Calcutta, yesterday morning. A coroner’s jury rend i cred a verdict of accidental death last I evening. k The work of tearing down the structure was being performed by a num- ! her of Hawailans. Portuguese and ’ m* n of other nationalities. Solomon k! with his fellow workmen was on the I) | scene bright and early, and ready for k the day’s toil. Working on the Sidewalk. J Operations were confined to the front portion of the building. To Solj! omon was assigned the task of clean- || ng the mortar from the brick which it had previously been removed from 1, the walls. He was at work on the ,i i sidewalk when, without warning, a i; mass of brick fell and buried the man j'i j under the debris. The wall was about ten feet in i height and nearly two feet in thicket] ness, and was formed of many layers j)j nf brick. Two men named Ferra and i'; Ferreira were at work on top of the )' wall previous to the falling of the loosened section. The men employed H pickaxes in their work of demolish- : -ng it. Just what caused the wall to colL lapse was not ascertained. It had eviI! dently been partially undermined, and but little force was required to level it to the ground. Alarm Quickly Sounded. The alarm was soon sounded that ' a man had been buried in the mass of ( falling brick. Others hurried and dug ) him out only to discover that he was [j dead, the lower pan of the body being j terribly mangled. The police took charge of the remains and had them removed to the morgue. At a glance.

ir »a.' k« that not a of life r» mained. The weight of the brt- <s had raa5 c d instantaneous death The deceased was about t 5 years of and had been a resident of Hawaii for about 3d rears. H» had been a riilor and was a British subject. So.csn s was last explored wth the Catton. Neill Co. He had previously worked with Thus. R Lucas. His last job was only begun on Monday of this week. The deceased was soon to hare taken a position with one of ta? is and ? r ajnsh pc- mpanies About fire month? ago th wfe of So’omon was sent to Molokai He bore a good record as an industri es and efficient worker and he was formerly employer; at Bpreckelsville plantation. An Inquest Held. At the inquest held in the office cf Coroner Chillingworth at ":30 yesterday ev ning. Antone Ferra slated that Alexander Solomon, the deceas d. was a fellow workman and that Solomon and Ferra were picking up iron just before the accident happened. The falling of a stick or beam striking 1 Solorn n in the back was the first thing that knocked him down. The man was just picking up his piece of iron when the portion of the wall fell with a crash Ferra had picked up his portion of the iron and was walking ewav when the. bricks fell. In so doing Ferra bell-ves he avoided the fate which befell his companion Solomon. Ferra was unable to account for the falling of the brick. Joe A. Ferreira, also employed at tearing down the building of T. H. Davies & Co., testified that the deceased man was at work picking up iron when the brick fell. Ferreira declared he did not know whether an attempt had been made to pull down th? wall. The men were at work at the foot of the wall when Solomon met his death. Dr. McDonald, the post mortem physician, stated that the dead man’s body was covered with bruises. All ribs with but one exception were broken or fractured. The head show ed one wcnnd that would alone have killed him instantly. There were other wounds on the face and head. Verdict of the Jury. In accordance with the testimony , the jury soon arrived at a verdict , reading as follows: ‘ That the said Alexander Solomon i came to his death in Honolulu, Island of Oahu. Territory of Hawaii, on the i Sth day of January, 1902, from injuries received due to an accident while employed in tearing down an o’d building, the property of T. H Davies & Co., by having a large number of bricks fall upon his person and thereby causing instantaneous death.” Signed by *Chas. F. Chillingworth. Coroner: William Savidge. W. H. Coney. P. Friedman. E. E. Mossman. W. A. Hardy. Thos. R. Lucas.