Old Print Article: “Killed By A Keg Of Beer,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle (1895)

"The keg of beer fell on his head and killed him instantly."

Alcohol can kill, as is evidenced by the following article in the June 7, 1895 edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle:

“Charles Breslin, 33 years old, of 663 Graham Avenue, while holding a keg of beer above his head as he was about to put it in an ice box at Henry Hinckelbock’s saloon, 160 Union Avenue, at 8 o’clock this morning, slipped and fell backward. The keg of beer fell on his head and killed him instantly.

Breslin was a driver for a brewing company. When he called at Hincklebock’s saloon this morning he drank several glasses of beer with the proprietor before unloading his wagon. The floor in front of the ice box was wet and slippery. The first keg that Breslin brought in on his shoulder he raised as he approached the ice box. He stepped heavily on the damp floor. His feet slipped forward from under him. He made an effort to throw the keg from him, but it was useless. He lost his hold on the keg and it struck him heavily on the side of his head.

Hinckelbock was present at the time of the accident. He hastened to Breslin’s assistance. He rolled the keg away and after failing to revive Breslin called an ambulance from St. Catharine’s hospital. When the ambulance arrived the surgeon said the man was killed instantly by the blow. He had sustained a compound fracture of the skull. Coroner Creamer was notified.”

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