Electrifying
August 12th, 1912
By Joe Schipani
It was a Monday evening around
seven o’clock, when two brothers, John and Melvin LoRee, were working at the
Flint Electric Company on St Johns Street.
John was a supervisor for the electric company and Melvin was hired to do general repairs. Melvin had only been working at the electric company for about four months. He was a good worker and often finished his work early and would do cleaning and maintenance to occupy his time during his shift.
John was a supervisor for the electric company and Melvin was hired to do general repairs. Melvin had only been working at the electric company for about four months. He was a good worker and often finished his work early and would do cleaning and maintenance to occupy his time during his shift.
On this day Melvin was cleaning
the blade switches near the transformers.
Melvin turned off a line of
transformers not knowing the transformer for the switches was on a different
line.
John, keeping an eye on his
brother, noticed that the blade Melvin was getting ready to clean was live with
5,000 volts of electricity. John shouted to his brother, but it came too late.
As Melvin touched the blade, the
electricity went through him gluing him to the blade. John heard Melvin’s awful
scream but knew he could not touch him or he would meet the same fate.
Melvin’s body stiffened and
quickly fell to the ground when John turned off the power and called for help.
Afraid to touch him, John stood by helplessly and watched his brother’s body twist
and jerk until his life came to an end.
By the time an ambulance arrived
on the scene there was nothing that could
be done to save Melvin.
The body was taken to the
coroner’s office where it was examined. Melvin’s little finger on his right
hand was completely burned off. His forearm on the right side was completely scorched
to the bone and the muscles from the shoulder to the elbow were completely
sheared.
After a brief examination, the
body was sent to the morgue. Coroner Taylor had the city put together a juried
inquest into the company’s operation policies. The inquest was held the
following Thursday at Flint’s city hall.
The Flint Electric Company was
forced to add policies to prevent this from happening again.
Melvin, the 36-year-old man who moved from Detroit to Flint
searching for a better life for his family, was laid to rest in a cemetery in
Columbiaville.
Melvin LoRee was survived by his
aging parents, his fiancé, two brothers, and two sisters.
Flint Photo Credit: David C. Lucas- DS Photo
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