Stephen Verbanac

Accident No. 28, June 14th. - An accident occurred in No. 13 shaft of the Calumet & Hecla mine Resulting in the death of Stephen Verbance, caused by not giving the proper signal to the engineer when riding on the skip from the 12th to the 6th level.

An inquest was held before Justice Fisher.

The deceased and Matt Sadler got on the skip at the 12th level and told the bell ringer to ring them up to the 6th level. Verbance was on one end of the bail and Sadler on the other end. When they got to the 7th level the skip stopped suddenly and Verbance dropped off and fell under the skip. The trammer at the 7th level rang to stop the skip not knowing anyone was coming up in it. They said the signal given was 6 and 3, and thought the skip was empty. When men are on the skip, the signal should be given 4 and 3.

Louis Rages, the man who rung the signal to hoist the skip, testified that when Verbance and Sadler got on the skip they said: “Louis, ring 6 and 3.” and that was what he rung. It is customary to ring 4 and 3 when men are on the skip.

Verdict: “We, the jury, find that Stephen Verbance came to his death by falling off the bail of the skip between the 6th and 7th levels of No. 13 shaft of the Calumet & Hecla mine by an accident caused by not giving the proper signal to the engineer.”