JACOBSON

Posted by Cathy Gowdy on Friday, January 14, 2011 at 05:08:03 :

San Anselmo Herald
Saturday, January 13, 1912

Workman Meets Death at Power House
John A. Jacobson of San Francisco Electrocuted on Thursday

John A. Jacobson, an employee of the Frederick Shaur Construction Company of San Francisco, received 60,000 volts of electricity while working in the sub-station power house of the Northwestern Pacific Railway Company at San Anselmo about noon on Thursday.

The unfortunate man was working on a travelling crane, when by some accident, he came in contact with one of the three big wires that carry the current of electricity to the “third rail,” receiving the full force of the voltage.

After one scream he was unconscious. His clothes were nearly consumed before his fellow workmen could extinguish the flames, and the flesh on one side was burned to a crisp. It was a mercy that he only regained consciousness a few minutes before his death, which occurred in the San Rafael Cottage Hospital some hours after the accident. If he had survived his injuries, amputation of the right leg would have been necessary.

The deceased was thirty-eight years old, married, and lived on Minnie street, San Francisco.

Coroner Sawyer sent the body to San Francisco on Friday morning. An inquest will be held next week.