Killed By Dynamite Blast

STILES, CORNELIUS

Posted By: Ken Wright (email)
Date: 8/31/2007 at 12:30:33

Jackson Sentinel, April 26, 1927:
Killed By Dynamite Blast.
Last Saturday while blasting stumps on the L.H.Cornelius farm between Andrew and Bellevue, John P. Stiles who lived alone in a small building on the place he was killed, presumably by a premature explosion, the exact circumstances not being known as there were no eye witnesses to the tragedy. Two other men have been engaged in clearing the land of stumps for some time and at the time of the accident were on the opposite side of a slope of a hill and knew nothing of it until Monday morning when they, needing some dynamite, went over to the shack where Stiles lived to get a supply. Finding no one there they went to the place where Stiles had been working on Saturday and there found his mangled body. The watch which he carried had stopped at 3:15 o'clock, so it was thought that it was at that hour Saturday afternoon that the accident occurred. The body had been blown about five rods from where the accident occurred. Coroner J. O. Ristine of this city was called, but no inquest was deemed necessary. The body was taken to Bellevue and prepared for burial. Mr. Stiles was the brother of Fritz Stiles, formerly of this city and he had been a resident of this county for many years.