Barney Ryan Dead Contributed by Jody Doran & B.J. Kemme

 				BARNEY RYAN DEAD

		He Was Nervy, but Could Not Stand His Severe Shock

 

            Barney Ryan, who was brought to the hospital in this city from Page�s camp about two
weeks ago, and underwent the amputation of one of his legs at the hands of Drs. Farnham and
Bahel, succumbed to the inevitable Tuesday evening and now sleeps the sleep that knows no
waking in South Allis cemetery.

            Ryan was one of the best known woodsmen in this part of the state, and the
circumstances under which he met his death are substantially as follows:

            Ryan was engaged in felling a hemlock tree, into which a large cedar had lodged.  He
was too good a woodsman not to appreciate the danger of felling a tree into which another had
lodged and he was watchful for an accident.  The hemlock proved to be hollow, and Ryan and
his partner had only given the saw four or five strokes, when the tree fell.  Ryan started to run,
but he was apparently confused for he ran directly along under the lodged tree.  The cedar struck
him squarely across the neck, and pinned him to the ground.

            His right leg was driven in the ground clear to the knee, and was broken in two places�
at the ankle and below the knee.  He wore a pair of high shoes of heavy leather, and the bone of
the ankle was driven through this.  The left knee cap was broken in four places.  He also received
internal injuries.  The accident happened in a place which was a mile from where a tam could be
brought, and the men carried him that distance.  He was then placed in a wagon and brought to the hospital here.  

            Ryan never lost consciousness, and although he must have suffered intense pain, he
complained but very little.

            Ryan was about 52 years old and his worked in the woods in this vicinity about 20 years.
 He was spoken of as a faithful and competent workman.  He is a Canadian and has a brother in
Toronto.  He has always been rather reticent about his family matters.  He did not expect to
recover from his injuries and gave Dr. Farnham at the hospital the address of his brother. 

            Undertaker McKune took charge of his remains at death, and they were given respectful
burial in South Allis cemetery Wednesday. Onaway Outlook August 3, 1900, page. 1.