Caught Between Floors: A Fatal Elevator Ride in the Pioneer Building

A terrible accident happened in the elevator of the Pioneer Building at 6 o'clock last evening, the second of the kind in the history of that structure. Nelson, postmaster of Seabeck, Kitsap County, had his neck caught and broken between the elevator door and the floor. When the body was released by a terrified girl, it tumbled headlong to the bottom of the shaft and was further mutilated. The accident appears to have been due entirely to Nelson's own attempt to run the elevator without knowing how to handle it.

Nelson came to this city yesterday afternoon in a sloop he had just purchased, handled by a man named Gullett. He transacted business and met a Mr. Tellez, who had returned from a trip East that morning and was engaged to marry Nelson's daughter. About 4 o'clock he went to the Pioneer Building, entered the elevator and talked with Thompson, the elevator operator, whom he knew because Thompson owned a ranch in Kitsap County adjoining his own. Nelson was accompanied by Mettie Bergeson, a young woman whose parents lived in Kitsap County and who expected to return with him on the sloop.

Thompson and Nelson talked over some Sunday school literature Nelson wanted for the school where he was superintendent. About 6:15 Thompson ran the elevator to the fourth floor to light the hall. He opened the door and stepped outside, leaving Nelson and the girl in the car. A minute had not passed before Nelson grasped the lever. Why he did it is not known. One story told the coroner was that the elevator had started to descend and Nelson seized the lever to stop it. The girl said he put his hand on the lever as soon as Thompson stepped out, with no apparent reason. The moment he pulled it the elevator shot upward. Nelson lost his head, and the door on the fourth floor being open, he tried to jump out. As he did so the elevator floor approached the heavy railing over the door. He had just got his head out of the opening, and his neck was caught and broken. It was wedged so tightly between the floor and railing that the car's upward flight was stopped.

The young woman crouched in one corner, terrified. The elevator man had lit the gas and saw something was wrong. Looking up, he saw his friend Nelson's head hanging out through the wedge in which it was caught. "Pull the lever slowly towards you," he called to Miss Bergeson. She was excited and pulled it rather suddenly. The elevator started to ascend, releasing Nelson's body. It fell out of the opening, struck the fourth-story floor, and then dropped down the shaft. In falling, Nelson's shoes struck the glass over the elevator door on the third floor, smashing it to pieces. The young woman became more excited and pushed the lever, sending the car to the sixth floor. Thompson climbed the stairs and took charge. Miss Bergeson was completely unnerved and soon left the building.

Coroner Askam was sent for but did not arrive until 9 o'clock. A policeman kept a crowd of sightseers away. The coroner found the neck broken and both legs broken; the face bore several wounds. The body was removed to Butterworth & Son's undertaking establishment. In the pockets were about $7 in silver and a few receipted bills. Nelson was about 45 years old, with light yellow hair and mustache. He was a widower with two daughters, one nearly 20 and one about 13, and had lived at Seabeck for several years, conducting a small grocery store in connection with the post office. Coroner Askam announced he would hold an inquest at 2 o'clock this afternoon.