Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1869-08-27

| the Citizens-The Whole RaIe Popula alton
fthe City Turns Out 10 Assist la axtri.
eating the Body
A terrible accident occurred at Concord
n. H., on Friday of last week. the facts OF
which were as follows :
George A. Dow, of the firm of Dow
Kennedy Il Co., we'll known master ma
sons, was engaged with two Or more men
in digging we'll on the promises of Col
onel George Ell. Hutchins, on Merrimac-
street. Up to noon everything had gone
on we'll. The workmen had reached 6
depth of about thirty eight feet AS far as
the shaft descended tho plank curbing was
put in by Mr.. Dow in person. His wife
asked him in the morning if he did moi
consider it dangerous undertaking. He
answered eyes, somewhat, but have no
fears, for shall build all the curbing my
self"
At the time of the accident, which oc,
Cured about qnarter-past 3 o'clock, Mr.
Dow was at the bottom ii the we'll at work
upon the curling. His assistants were al
the top letting down lumber and tools
AZ the clock struck three he sung on!
pleasantly to the men above " Three
O'Clock, and all's we'll We are getting
along nicely These were the last words
he was heard to speak. Soon afterwards
there was rumbling IN the bottom Of tn"
we'll and the men looked down and -: ::
| that the bottom was one confused mas , t
broken curbing and earth. AZ th,. lum-
bling sound commenced they heard Mr..
BOWS voice, but could not distinguish i.is
words.
The alarm was at once 6 wen, and hun
dreds rushed to the spot Mr., Lyman II.
Fellows. with his gang of men, i.p ", re
engaged On the sewerage work oil Aiain
street, were promptly on the spot, aud
Mr. Fellows directed affairs until the arri-
val OF Captain A. Z. Holt who assumed
the charge at the request of all present.
At first 1T was attempted to lower a man
with q bucket and niutllass 10 commence
cxhuming at the bottom. \ Mr.. Patch
was the first to get into the bucket but
ne had not been more than half way let
down when another caving began, and it
Was found that his life was not safe in the
we'll
Part OF the crowd then commenced dig
9lng away the surface Of the ground near
the top OF the we'll, and others began the
construction o! now .cnrhing, to be let
down inside Of that which remained whole.
The work Was prosecuted with all the rapi-
dlty and tarnestness that hundreds of
strong men from all classes of society were
capable OF exhibiting. At five O'Clock the
first piece Of now curling, fifteen feet in
length, was successfully let down. Other
pieces were got in with considerable diff
Guilty. At about three O'Clock this morn
ing, after nearly twelve hours unremitting
and dangerous labor, the body of Mr.. Dow
was discovered at the depth Of thirty -four
feet. lie was in an upright position and
llteless. The question then arose as to how
the remains could be extricated. The men
had reached the bottom Of the lowest sec.
ton OF the cnrbing, and as each piece ex-
cepting the first two had to be smaller than
the ono preceding, it was evident thu still
anothersec:ion would have to be much more
contracted. The work was then pronoun-
ced very dangerous by engineers, who
SAID that another caving was likely to oc>
cur at that time, and which would inevita-
bly, carry death to all in the shaft. Still,
brave men, whose heroic deeds viii! long
be remembered. came forward and calmly
volunteered to go to the bottom and re-
lieve those there whose herculean labors
had almost exhausted them. A large crowd
of people were still collected, representing
all classes OF citizens. Ladies we're pres
ent dispensing coffee and refreshments. A
rope was placed at suitable distance from
the we'll to keep back the eager crowd,
whose pressure upon the earth was likely
to induce another caying. Just outside of
the rope stood reliefs of strong men ten
times as many as could possibly be wanted
under any clrcumstances-al anxious to
join in the work.
The vicinity of the Well was brilliantly
lighted up with lamps, while lanterns were
thlckly hung in the trees near by. In all
directions the houses were lighted, show
ing that the people could not sleep under
the excitement of the occasion. All night
long heavy teams were rafting to and from
the spot, carrying away gravel and bring
ing back lumber and tools. The scene
was sad and painful one. whose impress
sion will not soon be forgotten. The next
step towards recovering the body was to
construct another section of curbing, which
could be only two feet square. This was
let to the bottom, directly over the re-
mains, so as to enclose them as it settled. |
Then commenced the toilsome and diff
cult labor Of removing the earth from the |
body. Only one man at time could work |
inside of the curbing, and the dirt had to |
be removed with a trowel. It was six |
O'Clock this morning before the remains
could be drawn up. The head was pressed |
against one side of the well. and death by |
sufocation and compression must have |
been sudden. One hand was placed On |
the top of the head and O hammer was
grasped in the other. Physicians were on |
the spot, who were unanimous in pro |
life to be extinct.
fmmiSrs tian SOeiafiAa