Binghamton NY Press 1962 Coal Gas Kills Brick Plant Worker By DICK VENIZELOS (Continued From Pg 21) as a continuous feeder Into four tubes. The coal drops from the tubes Into a fire. The fire gives off the gas that moves out a 24-lnch pipe into the kiln where the bricks are fired. I Norman T. Fulkrod, plant superintendent, said the gas-producing bins are watched around the clock. HE SAID the firm's fireman, In this case Mr. VanValkenburg, checks the top bin every four hours to make certain the coal is not clogging In the chute. When the check Is made, a second man goes along as a precautionary m e a s u r e , Mr. Fulkrod said. Yesterday, because of the cold weather and snow, the superintendent said, the coal apparently stuck in the chute and it was necessary to shovel it free. The coal fumes, which are odorless, he said, come up through the coal from the fur nace. "Normally you can stay up there two or three minutes and nnot feel any 111 effects,' Mr. Fulkrod said. "I've gotten siek up there myself, but never so much that 1 couldn't get out. I can't figure out why they couldn't get out." HE ADDED, "It (the fumes) can sneak up on you fast." Clarence Austin, the firm's president, said the company has been making its own gas since about 1037. He aald natural gas "is very expensive.'.' Producing your own gas, he said, "Is the cheapest way" to fuel the kilns. He said many brick plants In the eastern area of the United States produce their own gas with anthracite coal. Anthracite is less expensive than soft coal in the Binghamton area because of the proximity of the mines in the Scranton area, he said. Mr. Austin said the brick company was founded by his father In 1916. He said that for a time coal and oil were used as fuel and then natural gas was used briefly in the mld-1930s. MR. COLEGROVE had worked as a laborer for the brick-making firm about seven years. Friends said he was born in LeRaysvllle, Pa. and attended school there. They said Mr. Colegrove, now divorced, has three sons in the LeRaysvllle area. His mother lives In Rummerfield, near Towanda. she was notified about her son's death by Towanda state police last night His sons were identified by a Pennsylvania minister last night as Stanley Joseph, 19, Joseph Anthony, 16, and Francis Ed ward, 13. He said they live with their mother, since remarried, In LeRaysvllle RD 1, near Wyalusing. Arrangements were being made to remove Mr. Colegrove's body to Pennsylvania for the funeral. MR. COLEGROVE, who has lived at 3 Pine Street about seven years, was described as a "very likeable, hard-working fellow" by his landlady, Mrs. Jennie Rogers. Coroner Vincent M. Maddl said a blood test Indicated that Mr. Colegrove died from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by coal gas. Dr. Maddi said he was withholding a verdict temporarily. There was one facet of the tragedy which could not be, explained Immediately by plant personnel. Newsmen, in a tour of the plant, were shown a sheet that the man tending the gas-producer signs every hour as he makes his rounds. It was noted that Mr. VanValkenburg had .signed and made other markings on the sheet opposite "3 p. m." MR. FULKROD SATO the sheet sometimes Is marked a half hour in advance, but noted that the timing of the accident indicated it had been signed yesterday about 1H hours or more in-ad-- vance. Mrs. Orzelek's call to police was followed a few minutes later by a call from George Zyck, manager of the West End Brewing Co., which has offices adjacent to the brick company. Mr. Zyck said he was just leaving the office when he "heard a voice hollering for help." Two men from the Division of Safety of the State Labor Department today were making what was termed a routine investigation of the accident.