Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA
1915 - ONE MAN IS KILLED. When Upper Section of Construction Tower Collapses This Morning

One man was injured so badly that the died within an hour at the St. Joseph's hospital and another was painfully hurt at 10 o'clock this morning when the upper thirty feet of the 156-foot construction tower, being used in the erection of the new storage warehouse at the Fort Wayne Electric works' plant, in Broadway, suddenly collapsed.

The Victims.
Frank Farrell, 1805 Wall street, aged 25 years. Died at St. Joseph's hospital at 11:10 o'clock.

Charles. M. Helwig, of Hammond, painfully, but not seriously hurt; his injuries consisting of bruises.

The cause of the accident has not been yet ascertained. The tower was built in the shape of an elevator shaft and was used to haul concrete to the upper floors of the building. It was built of six by six-inch wood and was tightly bolted together. Guy wires were also used to steady the tower.

Fell 115 Feet.
Farrell was stationed on a platform 115 feet above the ground. His job was to take pails of concrete as they came up the shaft and pour them into a trough, which led to the third story moulds. When the upper thirty feet of the tower collapsed without warning, the platform was carried down and Farrell was plunged through the opening in the platform down through the center of the shaft.

The Fort Wayne News
Fort Wayne, Indiana
November 10, 1915

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