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Man Killed in Strange Accident

Levi Spencer crushed to Death - When Stump Falls on Him

Levi Spencer, a woods worker at Camp 2 of the J. Neils Lumber Company, was killed Tuesday morning while working in the woods. He and two brothers, who are logging under contract, had started to cut a wind-fall into logs, the roots of which were lifted into the air when the tree went over. They had got the tree nearly cut from the stump when a heavy shower came up and they stopped work, Levi crawling under the stump and calling to his brothers to join him there as it was dry and cozy. They remained out however.

Levi was crouched under the stump in a stooping position when suddenly the tree snapped loose from the stump allowing it to fall back into its original position, catching Spencer beneath it. One brother ran for aid while the other brother started to dig the pinned man out. He talked for a few minutes requesting his brother to hurry as he was suffocating and in great pain, the weight of the stump shutting off his breath. The imprisoned man soon became unconscious.

It required the work of several men about three-quarters of an hour to remove the man, the great weight of the stump causing it to settle as rapidly as they dug beneath it. When the body was finally recovered it is believed that life was extinct. No bones were broken and death was due to suffocation and probably internal injuries.

The three brothers, Ernest, Vernon and Levi Spencer, have been working in the woods here for several years and are hard working, steady woodsmen. The deceased was 33 years old and unmarried.

Word has been received from Jim Spencer, brother of the deceased living in Indiana, that he left for Libby Wednesday night. Funeral services will be held Sunday morning at 10 o'clock from the Gompf undertaking parlors.

The Western News, Page 1, Volume XXII Thursday, July 19, 1923. Historical Society of Montana, Helena. Microfilmed from the Libby, Lincoln County Library.


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