Fifty Turns on the Shaft: A Foundry Apprentice's Miraculous Escape

Charles Meydenbauer, an apprentice at Moran's foundry, lies at Providence hospital suffering from a broken arm and leg after a most miraculous escape from a terrible death. He was caught in the shafting at the foundry yesterday morning between 7 and 8 o'clock, and before he was rescued had been whirled over and over fully fifty times, twenty feet above the ground, by a shaft making 100 revolutions to the minute. All his clothes were literally torn from his body. Despite this horrible experience he did not lose consciousness for a moment. In the effort to save him, William Tenney, the machinist, was struck on the breast by a 5x6 piece of timber and knocked through the air fully fifteen feet. Tenney has not yet shown evidence of being seriously injured, although he spit blood slightly during part of the day.

Meydenbauer is only 19 years old, full of life, and possesses a remarkable constitution. It is his duty to oil the shafting, and he sometimes starts the engine. He says yesterday morning the belt which runs from the counter shaft to the brace finishing lathe was off and he went up to fix it. He had reached the shafting, which at that point revolves 100 times a minute, when the ladder slipped and his left arm was thrown against what is termed a collar shaft.

Quick as a flash the sleeve of his jumper was caught and before he had time to extricate himself he was whirling around in midair at a terrific rate. With remarkable presence of mind he grabbed the shaft and yelled for help with all his might. One leg struck the side of the building with such force that it was broken above the knee. Realizing that his only safety lay in hugging the shaft, he drew himself together and waited for what seemed certain death.

His cries brought all the men in the foundry to the scene. Machinist Tenney immediately closed the throttle of the big engine, but this would not cause a dead stop at once. Then he grabbed a piece of 6x6 timber and jammed it into the crank. A moment later the same timber came against his breast with terrible force, hurling him through the air fully fifteen feet and rendering him unconscious for a few moments. In the meantime Billy Coffman had succeeded in getting off the belt, and the machinery came to a standstill.

It was then seen that the victim was still hanging to the rod and that his clothes had been torn from his body and wound around the shaft collar. A ladder was raised and the victim was released and taken to the ground. Remarkable as it may seem, he was no sooner among his friends than he commenced talking. Doctors were summoned and ordered young Meydenbauer's removal to Providence hospital. The examination showed that the left leg had been fractured above the knee and that the left arm had been broken twice above the elbow.

When seen by a Post-Intelligencer reporter in the afternoon the patient was getting along nicely and said his injuries were confined entirely to his left side. 'I did not expect to get out of it alive,' he said. 'When my arm got caught I tried to free myself, and almost succeeded, but then before I knew what had happened I was whirling around and yelling for help. I could see the men running about the foundry below me and remember just how Robert Moran looked when he came running in from the office. Then I saw Tenney put the plank in the crank and the next moment go flying through the air. It was all over, I suppose, in about thirty seconds, but it seemed a longer time. About the last of it I came near losing consciousness, but did not.'

Robert Moran, speaking of the accident, said it was one of those accidents that could not possibly be foreseen or guarded against by any precautions beyond those already in use. 'I never saw such nerve,' he continued, 'as young Meydenbauer showed. At the lowest calculation he must have made fifty revolutions, because the shaft travels at the rate of 100 per minute. Just as soon as he was released and taken down he commenced to talk. This is the first accident worthy of note that has ever occurred in the foundry.'

Meydenbauer is a brother of the young man who played on the S. A. C. football team and who is now in Alaska. Dr. Krieg said last night that Meydenbauer's injuries, while serious, would not be fatal.