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lM i HOME FINAL P artly cloudy today, high 80, low 50-55. Southerly winds 20- 35 miles per hour. High yesterday 79, low 59. Noon hu­midity 19 per cent. SOUTHERN NEVADA'S ONLY HOME OWNED DAILY NEWSPAPER: v///im\\\ LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, TUESDAY, APRIL 6,1 9 5 4 SIXTEEN PAGES 1 11: m m m M ?m b - h i N . ar T W IS T E D W R E C K A G E R E M A IN S —-A 140-foot w ater tow er being constructed In the U nion P acific yards, already 110 feet in the air, is shown at le ft before yesterday’s fatal accident that took the life o f 37-year-old H arold Gentis, o f Compton, C alif., and in ju red tw o others. A winch hoisting tw o m en and a gird er to the top o f the tow er failed, and the w reckage at the righ t w as the outcome. T h e once stately w ater tow er lies a heap o f twisted m etal follow in g the accident that sent the 55 tons o f steel crashing to the ground. Gentis w as pinned underneath the w reckage, and C. J. R ush er fe ll m ore than 7# feet to the ground. H e is in serious condition in Southern N evada M em orial hospital. (S U N F Q lf l° ' Lack of Inspection Disclosed On Collapsed Railroad Water Tower Investigation in to the freak accident that sent 55 tons o f Steel used in the construction o f a 110-foot w ater tow er in the U nion P acific yards h urtlin g to the ground, crushing 87-year-old H arold Gentis to death and in ju rin g tw o others, w ill continue today as a L os A n geles .union official and the dead m an’s w idow w ere scheduled to arrive in L a s Vegas. ------ City officials were looking into keep th e m en fr o m obtaining freedom . TOWER bt the matter from a legal point of view,- when it was discovered by the building department yesterday that no building perm it had been taken out for the construction work. Building department officials also said that no inspections had been made on the tower to see that the work had Been properly done. Gentis, o f Compton, Calif., was crushed to death amid the twisted steel, and the two other men were injured when a winch failed and allowed a huge girder to fall into the partially completed water tow­er, causing it to collapse. In serious condition in Southern Nevada M emorial Hospital is C. J. Rusher, 31, o f Kansas City, Mo. Also in Memorial hospital, but not in serious condition is E arl Dun-gey, 4g, o f Lomita, Calif. Rusher is suffering from multiple fractures o f an arm, leg, and hip, and serious internal injuries, hospi tal officials said. Clifford F . Sheckells, construe tion superintendent for the Darby Corporation of Kansas City, Mo., said the accident apparently oc­curred when a winch operated by (Continued on Page 18) bf (ContiJlfed from ’Page 1) Dungey went out of control and al­lowed a girder on which both Rush­er and Gentis were riding, to fall. Both Gentis and Rusher fell more than 70 feet to the ground, amid the twisted wreckage of the water tower. Dungey was knocked ap­proximately 60-feet by the flying handle of the winch, which was spinning free. The tower was being erected to support a 300,000 gallon water tank for use in the Union Pacific yards. Sheckells said three men were attempting to hoist the girder up into position on the 110-foot tower for installation when the accident occurred. Gentfs', who was killed instantly when the huge mass of steel lit on him, was freed from the wreckage by workmen using acetylene torch­es. His body was taken to Bunker Brothers mortuary. He is survived by his wife, V ir­ginia, o f Compton, Calif., and. two sons, Harold J. Gentis, 15, and Danny Ross, 11. td