
“John Miller, a tinner in the employ of C. Gerlach1, fell from the second floor of the Children’s Home, to the basement, a distance of 30 feet, last Sunday evening, and received internal injuries of such a serious nature, that he died the following morning. Contractor Purdum2 had removed the ladder reaching from a moveable platform to the tower floor above, to prevent Sunday visitors from ascending it and periling their lives. About two hours later, Miller and a companion named Millard, both under the influence of ardent spirits, it is believed, tried to replace the ladder to make the ascent, when Miller fell with such fatal force to the basement. Drs. Finch3 and Kline4 were called and arrived shortly after the accident, but the poor man was unconscious and remained in an insensible condition until he died. The deceased had been in Mr. Gerlach’s employ but a few days as tin roofer on the Home. He came to work Saturday, but was drinking to such a degree that his services were not called into requisition. A coroner’s inquest resulted in a verdict in accordance with the facts. The body was sent to Ashland, Kentucky, where his mother and relatives reside. This is the first accident that has occured since the building has been in progress, (we hope it may be the last,) and there was no occasion for it.”5
- Conrad Gerlach
- John Walter Purdum
- Dr. Cyrus M. Finch
- Dr. Peter James Kline
- Fatal fall. (1876, April 8). Portsmouth Times, p. 3.