Salt Lake Tribune | 1919-03-17 | Page 14 | Falls from Seventh Floor, but is Saved

FALLS FROM SEVENTH FLOOR, BUTJS SAVED Traveling Man Has Hair-Whitening Hair-Whitening Experience in Elevator Shaft. i Stepping into an open elevator shaft at the Mclntyre building, J. H. Pointer saved himself from death by .a fall of seven stories only by clutching an iron girder with both hands as he reached the sixth floor. In the fall he received many bruises and strains. The accident happened hap-pened just after midnight Saturday. Mr. Pointer, who is a salesman from New Orleans staying in Salt Lake tern- 1 porarily, explains that he had been work- ing late In the office of Ray & Whitney, Whit-ney, his firm's legal advisers in Salt Lake, He states that when hewent to take the elevator to go to the street, the car, in charge of the janitor of the building, build-ing, stopped about a fotft above the seventh floor and that he attempted to step in then. As he stepped forward the elevator man is said to have released the controlling gear and the car shot upward, Mr. Pointer falling into the breach. He dropped headfirst and struck a girder on the side of the shaft at the sixth floor, to which he clung while recovering from the shock of the fall. Crawling along the 1 girder he managed to reach the door of ; the shaft, and escaped from his perilous position. I Jacob Stem, janitor in charge of the ! elevator, in a statement made last night, confirmed the assertions made by Mr. Pointer, saying, however, Mr. Pointer attempted to step into the car while he was trying to adjust its position to a level with the seventh floor. "I had two narrow escapes from death in that building," Mr. Pointer says, explaining ex-plaining that while he was recovering his breath on the girder which saved him a ! fall to the bottom of the shaft the ele- I vator bore down upon him, and stopped a foot above him only after he had yelled i a vociferous warning. "I walked to the j street," Mr. Pointer says. I