August Oskar Olsson

Death record: http://seekingmichigan.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p12940...

Mine Inspectors Report: ACCIDENT NO. 10— November 23, 1903.— An in quest was held before Coroner Fisher over the body of Oscar A. Olson, who was killed by being caught between the tram car and the side of the drift at the 57th level, Red Jacket shaft, of the Calumet & Hecla Mine.

Gust Erickson testified as follows: "I know Oscar Olson. He was my partner. We were working at the 58th level. We came up to the 57th level. I came up the ladder before Olson. There were three other men at the 57th level, and I stopped and talked to them. Oscar went to put some fuse in the box. I saw him bend down to put it in the box; he had a light in his hand. I did not see him again until I saw him caught between the car and the rock on the side of the drift. He went out of the drift in front of the car. The car is run by a rope attached to a small engine. There was not much room to get out of the way of the car on the side Olson stood when the car struck him. There was five feet of room on the other side of the car where he would have been out of the way for the car to pass. The boy that runs the engine and myself were the first to get to him. His head was hanging over the car and his body jammed between the car and the hanging side of the drift. He had no light when we got to him. If he had his light he would have gone on the foot side out of danger. He did not speak after he was struck by the car. He was conveyed to the Mine Hospital, where he died the next morning."

John Aho testified as follows: "I run the engine that pulls the car. I know Oscar Olson. I saw him last in the drift where he was caught. I run the engine that was pulling the car. He rang one bell and then right away rang two -one bells, which means stop, two to pull back and three to go ahead. He rang so close together that I concluded it was three bells. Then he kept on ringing and I did not know what he meant until I felt something heavy on the rope; then I stopped the engine. I went in the drift, and Olson was caught between the car and the hanging side of the drift. If he had rung one bell and stopped it would have been all right. He mixed me up on the signals. I did not know what it was intended for. I was running the engine the time the accident happened."

John Lindstrom testified: "I am mining captain at the Red Jacket shaft of the Calumet & Hecla Mine. There was five feet of room on the foot side of the track. I think probably Olson had no light; if he had a light he could have seen to get out of the way of the car. He has been working there about two months. Olson was going out through the drift ahead of the car. If he had his light he could have gone on the foot side, where there was plenty of room for the car to pass in safety."

Verdict of the Jury: "We, the jury, find that the deceased, Oscar Olson, died on account of injuries received in the drift at the 57th level of Red Jacket shaft of the Calumet & Hecla Mine on the 23rd day of November, 1903, having been caught between the tram car and the side of the drift."