Hungarian worker struck in head by beam
His name appears on a list: Fatality No. 9 on Section No. 7 of the Welland Ship Canal construction.
Perhaps it was due to a language barrier, or perhaps his immediate family had been left behind in Hungary, but little is known about Daniel Lengjel (or Lengyel as it also appeared in newspaper accounts; this is presumably an anglicized version of his name). He was one of many Yugoslavianborn Hungarians who immigrated to Canada after the First World War. It is not known whether he was married or if he had children, but he was somebody’s child, brother, nephew or friend, and so his life mattered as much as the contribution he made to the infrastructure that was created.
Lengjel had been employed for three years with the Cameron & Phin contracting firm before he was killed while working on the construction of the canal. It was shortly past noon-hour on Wednesday, May 15, 1929.
Lengjel, 34, was stationed in Welland near McCuaig Hall at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church on Bald Street. A crew was building a retaining wall and workers were transporting a timber beam in order to clear the roadway for backfilling the wall. As they moved the beam, which by accounts measured approximately 36 centimetres by 36 centimetres by 15 metres
long, it swung around in the direction of the men working adjacent to the wall.
William Mack, diving foreman for Cameron & Phin, shouted a warning to the men as they worked. These men — fellow Hungarians Nick Gorka, Alex Zselenak and Andy Morinchuk — would later testify with the help of an interpreter that they heard no shouting whatsoever. Be that as it may, they had been able to duck out the way in order to avoid being struck by the timber beam. Lengjel, however, was not so fortunate, and was struck in the head by the massive structure, which resulted in a severely fractured skull.
Lengjel was immediately rushed to Welland hospital where he lied unconscious, fighting for his life for four hours before succumbing to his injuries.
Subsequently, it took the coroner’s jury just two minutes to deliver their verdict, which ruled Lengjel’s death an accident.
Lengjel was the son of Mike Lengjel and Julianna Papp, both born in “Jugo Slavia.” According to his death certificate, his racial origin was “Jugo Slav”, but newspaper accounts indicated that he was Hungarian. Lengjel was buried in an unmarked plot in Holy Cross Cemetery, Welland.
— This article is part of a series remembering the men whose lives were lost in the construction of the Welland Ship Canal. A memorial to honour the men was unveiled earlier this month. The Welland Canal Fallen Workers Memorial is at Lock 3 in St. Catharines. To learn more visit www.stcatharines.ca/canalworkersmemorial.