William Wesley Riddle, 40, maintenance man, helped to save Vernon T. Harp, 43, shale crusher, from suffocation in a silo, Dallas, Texas, June 11, 1953. The silo was 80 feet high and 30 feet in diameter and was almost half filled with pulverized shale weighing 100 pounds a cubic foot. Piled 45 feet high at one wall, the shale sloped downward 30 feet at a 45-degree angle to the opposite wall where the shale rose 12 feet above the silo floor. While Harp and Riddle were discharging shale through a hopper which was eight feet square, a large mass of shale gave way beneath them. Although a line secured above was fastened to Harp, he dropped seven feet and was buried to a depth of 15 inches. Caught in the slide, Riddle was swept downward toward the hopper and buried to his knees near Harp. Freeing his legs and seizing a shovel, Riddle dug away shale and uncovered Harp’s head. Aware that additional slides might occur, Riddle cautiously leaned backward and braced his body against the shale to try to shield Harp. At intervals small slides occurred on the surface of the slope above Riddle, and he twice had to use the shovel to uncover Harp’s mouth. Riddle’s calls for help were heard by men outside 10 minutes after the accident. Apprised of the situation, Joseph M. Tadlock climbed a ladder to a platform adjoining the entrance. He stepped into the silo, made his way six feet to Harp and Riddle, and lay between them on the shale, arching his body around Harp in an effort to fend off further slides from the slope. Tadlock and Riddle maintained stationary positions at the base of the slope for more than a half an hour until other workmen, who stood close to the silo entrance and used long handled shovels, finally dug away the shale surrounding Harp and aided him, Riddle, and Tadlock from the silo. The three men were fatigued and cramped but not injured. 42897-3926
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42897-3926