Woodbury, Leonidas

Overcome by foul air, Leonidas Woodbury, 23 years old, 2508 Picher Avenue, fell 160 feet to his death in an old shaft as the old Sitting Bull Mine at Four Corners, northwest of the city, about 2 yesterday afternoon. The foresight of Fire Chief Earl Fowler prevented a second tragedy at the mine. When Clarence Patchin a fireman at Central Station, essayed a rescue role, Fowler refused to let him enter the shaft until a safety rope had been attached to the harness of his gas mask. Then, as Patchin was being lowered, the windlass to which the main rope was attached, broke, and only the safety line prevented the fireman from plunging more than a hundred feet to the bottom. He had reached the sixty- foot level when the windlass handle gave way. Patchin was pulled to the surface and a canvas flume and air blower were called for. The rescue work was not carried out until the shaft had been emptied of foul air. The body was recovered at 5:30 pm.

Woodbury, his brother-in-law, and a brother, had just begun prospecting in the mine yesterday and it was Woodbury's first day. Previously, he had worked for mining companies and had gained considerable experience. The accident occurred when Woodbury went down into the shaft to tear away part of the cribbing that had been thrust out into the center of the shaft by a cave-in. He and his two partners had spent the morning and early afternoon in constructing a windlass.At 2 pm Woodbury tied a board to the end of the windlass rope for a seat, and he was lowered into the shaft. When he had gone down about ten feet, he started to light his carbide lamp, but suddenly screamed and toppled off the seat, crashing to a wooden platform at the bottom of the shaft. Either the foul air or the fall or both caused the death, authorities said.

Firemen and a Hurlbut ambulance were called to the scene to undertake rescue work.

The first step Fire Chief Fowler took was to test the air. It was found that a carbide lamp was extinguished six feet down, proving conclusively that the shaft was filled with foul air. The dead miner's brother and brother-in-law told Fowler that they first tested the air Monday after they had obtained a lease on the property, but did not do so yesterday before sending the young partner down into the mine.

Then Windlass Broke

Patchin then put on a gas mask owned by the fire department and started into the mine. Fowler, desiring to take every precaution, insisted upon tying a large rope to the back of the gas mask harness. The gas mask is the type that receives air through a rubber tube. The tube is 150 feet long.

When Patchin was lowered sixty feet the windlass broke, leaving Patchin dependent upon the safety rope. When the break came, a bystander had been holding to the rope, letting it slide through his hands as the windlass rope lowered the fireman. Several others seized the safety rope and they pulled Patchin back to the top of the shaft.

Fowler then refused to permit his men to go down into the shaft, although a new windlass was procured. The hose was not long enough to permit the use of the gas mask to reach the victim, and too, Fowler was doubtful as to the practicability of the gas mask in such foul air. The gas mask is guaranteed to be safe with as low as 16 per cent oxygen in carbon monoxide gas, and, not knowing the chemical composition of the air in the shaft, the chief refused to take any chances with his men, in view of the fact that Woodbury was dead and haste would be useless.

Bolts Slip Loose

Fowler examined the windlass before Patchin was lowered and it apparently was in good condition. It had been constructed of a large gas pipe, and was fastened in the frame at the ends with bolts. The bolts had slipped loose, allowing the pipe to turn in the socket.

Fowler expressed the opinion that had not Woodbury been killed by foul air, one of the partners would have been thrown to the bottom of the shaft before the afternoon ended, because of the faulty windlass.

When Woodbury fell, miners and other prospectors nearby rushed to the scene and their first act was to throw cold water into the shaft, often used by miners in small shafts to drive out the foul air.

Miners say the foul air is in reality "no air," or, more specifically, a lack of oxygen due to the chemical reaction of old wood and soapstone. The old Sitting Bull Mine once yielded a million dollars worth of ore, miners estimated.

About 4 pm the Empire Electric Machinery Company lent its aid, supplying a canvas bag which was lowered into the shaft 160 feet. A large motor was connected with electric power lines a half block away and the air from the motor was forced down the canvas flume. This process of forcing good air into the shaft expelled the foul air. Three times a light was lowered and each time it went out, but the fourth time the test was made the light remained burning at the bottom and workers knew the air was pure.

Nelson Killebrew then was lowered into the shaft, taking an extra rope with him. He tied the rope to Woodbury's body and was hauled to the top again. The body then was drawn out of the shaft.

Woodbury was married. Surviving beside his widow, Mrs. Zola Woodbury, are his parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. F. Woodbury, 2424 Bird Avenue; five brothers, Albert Woodbury, San Diego California; J. D. Woodbury, South America; Emory Woodbury, Lawton Oklahoma, and Joseph Woodbury and Samuel Woodbury, 2424 Bird Avenue; four sisters, Mrs. Lona Jones, Los Angeles California; Mrs. Clyde Paschel, 2424 Bird Avenue; Mrs. Josephine Harris, Royal Heights, and Mrs. Fred Ellis, Hutchinson Kansas.

He was a member of the Blandviille A.H.T.A. lodge. Funeral arrangements are incomplete.