William Henry Trevithick

Houghton County Mine inspectors Report

ACCIDENT NO. 36 – May 23, 1910 – Wm . Trevithick, Hecla Branch, C. & H. Mine. Wm. Trevithick came to his death by falling down No. 3 shaft, Hecla.

An inquest over his body was held and the following testimony taken:

Benj. Tonkin: “I am an employee of the C. & H. having charge of No. 3 shaft, Hecla. I know the man who was killed. He was a sprinkler. I do not know how he was killed, there was no one with him at the time. Frank Raunik found the body and notified me. The body was found at the 23rd level, the bottom of the shaft and the hose he had been sprinkling with was found attached to the pipe at the 9th level. I went through the shaft after the accident and found his hat and lamp just a little below the 9th level and found his coat at the 18th level. There was nothing to show he had been struck by the skip there were no blood stains. I suppose he fell in the shaft but cannot tell how."

Frank Raunik: “I knew Wm. Trevithick; he was a watchman. I was at the 23rd level and had just came out from inside when the skip came down and I saw a man under the skip. I don't know how he got there."

Verdict: "That, the said Wm. Trevithick came to his death by falling, down No. 3 Shaft of the Hecla Branch C.&H. Mine, from the 9th level to the 230 level, May 23, 1910."

OLD EMPLOYE OF C. & H. MEETS DEATH THIS MORNING.
William Trevithick is Struck by Skip in No. 3 Shaft, Hecla Branch
WAS EMPLOYED AS SPRINKLER

William Trevithick, a sprinkler, employed in No. 3 shaft of the Hecla branch of the C. & H. mine, was struck by a skip this morning while attending to his duties, and instantly killed. Coroner Fisher has been notified of the accident, and will conduct an inquest at the C. & H. hospital, this afternoon where the remains were taken following the accident.
Trevithick resided on Iroquois street, Laurium. He was aged 68 years, having been born in Cornwall, England in 1842. He is survived by a wife and three grown-up children. He entered the employ of the C. & H. Mining Company in 1892, and has worked for the company ever since. The decedent was well known and highly respected. Arrangements for the funeral will be made today.

MET DEATH BY FALLING.

William Trevithick Not Struck by Skip as at First Supposed.

That William Trevithick, a sprinkler, who was picked up yesterday at the 23rd level of the No. 3 shaft of the Hecla branch of the C. & H. mine, met his death through falling from the 9th level, a distance of at least 1,400 feet, is the belief of the coroner's jury, who conducted an inquest yesterday afternoon, and a verdict to that effect was recorded by Coroner William Fisher.

Owing to meager details at hand yesterday, it was first believed that Trevithick had been struck by a skip while following his occupation.
Trevithick was known to be a sufferer from dizziness, in fact had often complained to some of his fellow work men of "dizzy spells." It is believed that he must have had an attack of dizziness, and that while in that condition lost his balance and fell to his death.
No one saw him fall. The only means of ascertaining where he was working at the time the accident happened was the finding of the hose he was using at the 9th level, and it is supposed that he must have fallen from that distance to the 23rd level, where his body was discovered.
Trevithick, who resided on Iroquois street, Laurium, was well known and highly respected.

TREVITHICK FUNERAL.

The funeral of the late William Trevithick, who was accidentally killed this week in the Hecla branch of the C. & H. mine, will be held Sunday afternoon, leaving the residence in Laurium at 2 o'clock for the Laurium M. E. church. Rev. M. M. Ward will officiate. Interment will be in Lake View cemetery.