A Fatal Elevator Ride in the Pioneer Block
An inquest clears the operator but urges a new law after a man is crushed in a downtown elevator well.
Yesterday afternoon Coroner Askam impaneled a jury to investigate the death of M. N. Nelson—or N. P. Neilson; there is some question about the name—which took place in the elevator well of the Pioneer block on Tuesday evening. The jury decided that death was purely accidental, exonerated those in charge of the elevator, and recommended that steps be taken to secure passage of a law prohibiting persons in charge of elevators from leaving their post of duty while passengers are in the car.
Hattie Bergerson, the young woman who was in the elevator when Nelson or Neilson was killed, testified at the inquest. She said he opened the door of the landing and, by clinging to the top of the door, attempted to bring the elevator to a dead stop. In this way he got caught and killed.
Waldo Neilson, the dead man's son, arrived in the city last night from Tacoma. The remains will be sent to Seabeck, Kitsap County, for interment.
“Death was purely accidental ... recommended that steps be taken to secure the passage of an act prohibiting persons in charge of elevators from leaving their post of duty while passengers are in the car.”
The Pioneer Building still anchors Pioneer Square, and elevator safety codes are now so ordinary that we forget they were written in blood. This 1893 inquest is a reminder that building and workplace regulations often begin with a single preventable death.
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