Close call, Cornwall, 1908

The Freeholder (Cornwall) 24 April 1908, page 1

South Branch

Six Men have a close call

Robert Brown, William Brown, James W McLeod, Dan Grant, Ed Clark and M Kavanagh had a very narrow escape from death here yesterday (Thursday) afternoon. Robert Brown had a bee raising a new barn, and everything went smoothly until the plates were being put on, when the scaffolding suddenly gave away and the whole six fell with the plank and scantling into the cellar, a distance of over 20 feet. Robert Brown fell with his back across a beam and was struck on the head by a plank, which rendered him unconscious for a time. He is severely injured, but will recover. The others were all more or less bruised and shaken up, but none were seriously hurt. Their escape was little less than miraculous. The plate fell, but lodged on the cross beams.

Airman falls safely, London, 1913

Montreal Standard, 4 January 1913

First Airman to fall upon a London roof – during his recent attempt to fly from Boulogne, France, to Hendon, England, the Italian airman JB Manis was overtaken by the dusk and was compelled to make a hasty landing in the heart of the British metropolis. A smashing of plates, as his machine alighted on a roof, astonished the residents in Darwin road, Palmer’s Green. He was rescued by a ladder. His rescuers found him astride the roof, calmly smoking a cigarette. As he had crossed London in his effort to reach Hendon, it is a matter for speculation whether he would have escaped without injury if he had been compelled to land in the city.