George A. WEDDLE's accident, resulting in death:
"Sioux City Journal" News article about his death on 11 Aug. 1904:

Died at 1:30 PM on Aug. 11, 1904 in landslide at the Sioux City Paving Brick Company. He was a laborer there. He was blasting shale from a steep bluff with a team of a dozen men. The company was located on North Riverside (near his home). A former blast formed a ledge of shale that overhung the bluff. The ledge was a rod in length and 5 ft. wide. Loose clay powder chunks fell on the ledge and "tore the bank away from it." George and his team, which included George LE BRUNE, climbed up to the ledge to push away the clay chunks. Above the ledge from where they were pushing away the clay chunks still hung huge quantities of overhanging shale that had been loosened but not broken loose from the first blast. Suddenly the loosened shale above the ledge from where they were working gave way. George & LeBrune were on the ledge 50 above the base of the bluff & directly in the path of the avalanche of loosened shale that broke loose. Both men saw the coming danger and ran in opposite directions of the ledge to escape. LeBrune succeeded. George new that he was going to be caught and called to the men below the ledge to warn them. He then slid over the edge of the ledge just in front of the avalanche hoping to avoid it. He got caught in the falling shale and rolled around in the shale avalanche to the bottom of the bluff. It all happened "in an instant." Immediately his co-workers grabbed their spades and picks and worked frantically for 1.5 hours to free Weddle even though they knew he might not be alive. The body was found "near the edge of the mass of earth that had fallen. It was buried in less than two feet of debris. The co-workers carried George to the foreman of the company's house, Frank TURL. George's head had been badly cut, his body crushed and badly bruised. His right leg was broken above and below the knee. The left leg was broken below the knee. George Weddle's co-workers at the scene were: George LE BRUNE, John VILLIM, Fred RANDALL, Tom CHILLIEU, Will PURPLE, George DAGLE, & Henry PREVANCHE. News spread quickly around North Riverside. One of the gang carried the news to Emma Weddle. At first the news was unbelieveable to her, then she became almost hysterical. "Bobbing and moaning she was led to the remains of her husband at the TURL home." She wanted George's body to be brought to her home at once. She then left supported by workmen from the brickyard. "George Weddle was 38 years old" [not sure if it was 38 [1866], 30 [1874] or 33 [1871]... print of the microfilmed copy is bad.] He was employed by the Brick company for nine years; he had only been part of the blasting team since the Spring of 1904. He was survived by his wife and 5 children, ranging in age from 3 to 17. The oldest child was a girl. The family was "not left in good financial circumstances." Mr. Weddle was a member of the Order of Ben Hur.
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