The Daily Report (Ontario, California), Thursday 16 April 1925, page 1, column 1 - 'Upland Well Claims Life of George Wm. Cooper When Machine Breaks'

What this document records

Record

Front-page news report of a fatal industrial accident

Note

THIS IS THE BEST EVIDENCE OF THE DATE OF HIS DEATH AND IT DISAGREES WITH THE STATE INDEX. The paper is dated THURSDAY 16 APRIL 1925 and says the accident happened 'this morning at 9 o'clock'. The California Death Index [F.367] records 4-15-25. See the reading notes. IT ALSO GIVES HIS RESIDENCE - 'ALTA LOMA well-worker' - which no other record states, and the exact place of the accident: the Euclid Water company's well at Seventeenth Street and Benson Avenue, Upland. AND THE MECHANISM: hoisting machinery broke and 'a large piece of gear metal penetrated his chest'; he was killed instantly. The well had already killed a man: Lee Linder, another well-worker, was fatally injured there on 30 March when he and Robert Beard fell 60 feet to the bottom of the 360-foot well.

Reading notes

THREE SOURCES, THREE DATES, AND THIS ENTRY DOES NOT RECONCILE THEM: the California Death Index [F.367] says 15 April; THIS paper, printed at Ontario on the 16th, says 'this morning at 9 o'clock'; and the Redlands Daily Facts of the 17th [J.402] is noted on that entry as saying 'today'. A local daily printed in the adjoining town on the day of the accident, naming the hour, is the strongest of the three for the EVENT - and the inquest it describes was being held THE SAME AFTERNOON at 3 o'clock, which is hard to reconcile with a death the previous day. A state death index is a transcription of a certificate and can be a day out. But nothing here settles it, and no single date is asserted by this entry. The headline's first line is cropped above the fold in the viewer; what is legible is '...LIFE IN ACCIDENT / WORKING AT WELL'. The column WAS followed to its end - the article runs the full depth of column 1 and finishes with Blake Draper bringing the body to the chapel. IT NAMES NO SURVIVORS AND NO PARENTS; the Redlands account [J.402] is the one that mentions his son Joseph.

Leads

TWO RECORD TRAILS THIS ARTICLE OPENS, neither of them searched. (1) AN INQUEST WAS HELD at Draper's Upland chapel at 3 p.m. on 16 April 1925 with DEPUTY CORONER EMMETT WATERS in charge, after Officer Louis E. Kronmeyer of Upland investigated - so a SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY CORONER'S INQUEST FILE should exist, and an inquest names next of kin. (2) BLAKE DRAPER OF THE DRAPER MORTUARY took the body to the chapel - so a FUNERAL-HOME RECORD should exist, and funeral-home registers routinely give the parents and the place of burial, which is exactly what [F.367] failed to supply and what William G Cooper still needs. A representative of the STATE INSURANCE FUND was also joining the investigation, which implies a workers'-compensation claim file.

Body

[headline, cropped at the top] ... LIFE IN ACCIDENT WORKING AT WELL

Upland Well Claims Life of George Wm. Cooper When Machine Breaks

ONE OTHER INJURED

Lee Linder Lost Life in Same Well Recently as He Fell Down 60 Feet

George William Cooper, age 49, Alta Loma well-worker, was instantly killed when hoisting machinery broke at the Euclid Water company's well, Seventeenth street and Benson avenue, Upland, this morning at 9 o'clock and a large piece of gear metal penetrated his chest.

The accident was at the same well, where Lee Linder, another well-worker, was fatally injured March 30 when he and Robert Beard fell 60 feet to the bottom of the 360-foot well.

One Man Is Hurt

A. J. Seaman of Los Angeles, who was working in the well shaft this morning at the time of the accident, was painfully but not seriously injured. His hands and one knee were cut.

Mr. Cooper was operating the hoisting machinery lowering casing into the well when the accident occurred. Although other employes of the company declare they do not know just what happened, it is believed that Mr. Cooper through mistake pulled the wrong lever, causing the cable to swiftly unwind and then realizing his mistake attempted to throw the clutch back to check the unwinding of the cable.

Machinery Flies Apart

The weight of the casing on the cable caused the machinery to fly apart as if by explosion. One piece penetrated the roof, one struck and cracked the base of a stationary engine, and others flew through the windows of the pump house.

D. A. Beck, professional well-worker, who had been in charge of the work at the well since the accident March 30, was standing near Cooper when the accident occurred. He was untouched.

Inquest Is Held

Officer Louis E. Kronmeyer of Upland investigated the accident soon after it occurred and an inquest was being held at Draper's Upland chapel this afternoon at 3 o'clock, Deputy Coroner Emmett Waters in charge. A representative of the state insurance fund was also expected to join in the investigation this afternoon, part of which will be conducted at the scene of the accident.

When the accident occurred this morning, Seaman was working at the 150-foot level in the well, directing the downward course of the casing. Seeing the casing begin its plunge downward when the clutch was released evidently through mistake, he jumped back, saving himself from more serious injury.

Blake Draper of the Draper mortuary brought the body [of Mr. Cooper] to the chapel soon after the accident.