OBIT: Blos SCALESE, 1917, Altoona, Blair County, PA

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BURIED BY CAVEIN, WORKER STRANGLES
Coroner Will Investigate Death of Italian Smothered by Earth

  Caught by a sudden caving in of the walls of the sewer trench in 
which he was working, Blos Scalese, aged 37, an Italian laborer 
employed by Contractors Loomis & King, was crushed to death in Oak 
alley, between Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth streets, at 1.15 o'clock 
on Saturday afternoon.
  Scalese was working in the trench, which at that point was about five 
feet deep.  The sides had been shored up and the walls were thought to 
be perfectly safe.  At about 1.15 o'clock, just after the man had 
returned to work, Tony D'Uva, who had charge of the work, started down 
Twenty-fourth street on an errand, leaving Scalese digging in the 
trench at a point about seventy-five feet from Twenty-fourth street.
  He had progressed but a short distance when he heard the workman 
screaming.  The foreman ran back at once, finding the man buried under 
the cavein of heavy slate.  His head projected, as well as his left 
arm, which stuck straight up in the air.
  Fellow workmen set to work frantically to dig out the unfortunate 
man, while a hurry call was sent for Dr. G. E. Allemann, on Broad 
avenue, and for the police patrol.  Scalese was still breathing when 
the physician arrived, ten minutes after the slide, but died in a few 
moments.  Death was due to strangulation caused by the great pressure 
of the earth on the man's chest and back.
  The Penn Central lungmotor was rushed to the scene but the man had 
breathed his last before it arrived.  His body was not removed from the 
trench until after 2 o'clock, and was turned over to Funeral Directors 
Lafferty and Tobias.
  Blos Scalese was born in Italy 37 years ago.  He was unmarried and 
resided with his mother, whom he supported, at Twenty-eighth avenue and 
Fourteenth street.  He had been employed by Loomis & King for several 
years and was regarded as an excellent workman.
  Deputy Coroner C. C. Rothrock will conduct an investigation into the 
case.  The time has not been set, but the inquest will be held either 
this evening or tomorrow morning.
  The funeral will be held with requiem mass at 9 o'clock on Tuesday 
morning, followed by interment in Calvary cemetery.

Altoona Tribune, Altoona, Pa., Monday Morning, January 15, 1917

Funeral Notice.

  The funeral of Blos Scalese, the Italian workman killed in a trench 
cave-in Saturday afternoon, will be held this morning from Our Lady of 
Mount Carmel church at 9 o'clock, followed by burial in Calvary 
cemetery.  Deputy Coroner Rothrock has not yet decided if an inquest 
will be conducted.

Altoona Tribune, Altoona, Pa., Tuesday Morning, January 16, 1917