FRIGHTFUL ACCIDENT-Mr. Robert Richards-1869

RICHARDS, NEWBURGH, CRAMMER, LANGWORTHY, BELDEN

Posted By: cheryl moonen (email)
Date: 2/19/2018 at 18:00:28

Dubuque Daily Times, Friday, July 23, 1869, Dubuque, Iowa, Page: 4

FRIGHTFUL ACCIDENT

A Painter Falls a Distance of Twenty-Five Feet
and Strikes Upon the Pavement

About noon, yesterday, a frightful accident occurred at Mr. Langworthy’s block, 110 Main Street. One of the painters employed on the building named Robert Richards, a man of fifty or sixty years of age, who resides between 14th and 15th Streets, on Iowa, and who has been in the employ of Newburgh & Crammer for the past five years, met with a terrible fall. A ladder was suspended on front of the building, and on this Mr. Richards and a fellow workman were seated. When the bell sounded for dinner the latter arose and got off safely, but while Mr. Richard’s was crawling through the window, by some means he pushed the scaffold out from under him, and fell a distance of twenty-five feet to the stone pavement below, where he remained apparently lifeless. In falling, the unfortunate man stuck the iron cornice above the windows, which tended to break the force of his descent; otherwise he would have been killed outright. A lady who happened to be passing at the time, narrowly escaped being killed, the falling man just grazing the skirt of her dress. Mr. Richard’s was soon picked up and Dr. Belden called, when it was ascertained that the injuries were very severe, his head and shoulders being badly bruised, besides many injuries received internally. The patient was quite low yesterday afternoon and fears are entertained that he will not recover.

Mr. Richards is an old citizen and the news of the sad accident has overtaken him will be received with sorrow. We understand that he has quite a large family dependent upon his daily labor for support, a fact which renders the case one of peculiar hardship.