DAVIS, Melvin - Putnam

Evidently becoming confused by the warning shouts of fellow workmen, Melvin Davis, 23, of Cloverdale ran the wrong way at the bottom of a 10-foot ditch near Barnard Monday afternoon and was engulfed in an earth slide and suffocated. He was dead when workers found him 25 minutes later. Davis was one of a gang of men working on a new pipeland being built by the Michigan Gas Transmission company to carry natural gas from Texas to the east coast. He and several others of the gang were "crumbing" after another crew of workers removing loose dirt from the bottom of the deep trench, the sides of which had evidently been loosened by recent rains. The accident occured on a farm south of Barnard owned by Frank Blaydes of this place. The new line, a steel artery 24 inches in diameter, parallels a 22 inch line laid south of here several years ago. The old line supplies Roachdale and several nearby cities with natural gas and it will be the purpose of the new line to relieve some of the load of 22 inch line. Davis is survived by the parents Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Davis, and a brother and sister all of Cloverdale.   --- thanks so very much to Marilyn W. for sharing her Roachdale Times obituary collection - greatly appreciated !