Biography

The deceased was one of three men who were killed in a fall of a cage down a mine shaft at Waroonga Gold Mine, six miles from Lawlers. The men got onto the cage at one of the lower levels and the signal to hoist was obeyed. It is believed that when the cage was nearing Level 1, one of the men, Pietro Andreoli, leaned too far out and was caught, then pushed into his companions with the result that the other two men, Vincenzo Cattaneo and Owen Owens, were knocked off the cage. The lifeless body of the Andreoli was brought to the surface still in the cage but Cattaneo and Owens fell to the bottom of the shaft, a distance of 400-500 feet. Cattaneo and Owens, were hurled from side to side of the shaft in their descent, and were literally smashed to pieces. Cattaneo's estate amounted to £19 17s. Cattaneo had been working in the mine since the beginning of the year. Vincenzo is buried in Plot 01, Section A. Roman Catholic section of Lawlers Cemetery.