Death From Gas
N.B. Hodgkins Inhaled Blast Fumes In Well
Following a half hour’s illness caused by being overcome by poisonous gas in a well at his home in Government Gulch on the Telocaset road, Nathan B. Hodgkins died shortly before noon Wednesday.
Mr. Hodgkins had drilled a hole and placed a charge of dynamite in the bottom of the well, which is about thirty feet in dept. He came to the surface, lighted the fuse and waited what he considered a sufficient time for the gas created by the explosion to escape, and entered the well again. He had only been at the bottom for a few minutes when he became nauseated and unaided reached the top of the hole and entered the house, about 150 feet away.
Here he explained that he was very sick and as he grew rapidly worse, Dr. Irvine was called. When the physician arrived Mr. Hodgkins was dead.
The deceased leaves a widow and four children. The family have made their home in this section for the past several years and the place at Government Gulch was homesteaded by Mr. Hodgkins several years ago.
The funeral was held Thursday afternoon from the home and the body was taken to Union for burial.
North Powder News
Saturday, June 21, 1919
