| 1872,
30th August
WILLIAM COWAN
Fatal Accident. - On Friday last a fatal accident
occurred at Bankend, near Kirkconnell. A new chimney was being built,
and had reached a height of forty feet; two bricklayers were at work
on the top, when one of them thought the chimney had swayed from the
perpendicular, and descended to examine it. The other workman also
came down. They, along with William Cowan, engineman, examined the
chimney, and all were of opinion there was no doubt of its stability.
Cowan left to attend to the engine fires. In a few minutes the chimney
fell over on the top of the boiler shed, and Cowan was struck by the
falling bricks, and covered by the debris. When got out life was extinct.
It is supposed that the accident occurred from a defect in the foundation,
which consisted of planks laid on the natural soil: on the south side
the earth had been less firm than on the north side, and had subsided,
causing the chimney to topple over.
Dumfries & Galloway Standard 04/09/1872 / W / 7 / C - MM01
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