They Didn't Know It Was Loaded
A slapstick office accident at a rival Montpelier newspaper — a falling bookcase nearly flattens the entire editorial staff — is reported with wry amusement.
NewsPipe summary
Burlington Weekly Free Press · February 20, 1885 · Page 3
1 min readThe entire editorial force of the Montpelier Argus and Patriot came near being blotted out in one fell swoop, on Tuesday. A heavily loaded and imperfectly secured book case came down suddenly on the table where the triumvirate were at work, scattering destruction and official literature on every hand.
Henry O. Wait was the chief sufferer. He was caught and pinned down by the avalanche of wood and paper. An ugly gash was cut in his skull, and his face was badly scratched. The editor-in-chief, with his well-known agility, escaped just in time, and H. It. Bailey, Deputy Secretary of State, who was looking over the exchanges at the time, emerged from the ruin with no more serious inconvenience than the loss of the paper which he was reading.
Second Assistant Editor Dewing was the only man who happened to be out of harm's way, and he was the worst scared of all. Dr. Chandler was immediately sent for, and with the aid of some surgical appliances and a few bandages, soon had the editorial corps in running order again. We congratulate the Argus upon its narrow escape from extinction.
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