The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-09-29
'RIDAY4 MoRNIN ssB BpTHMBER 2e; l ls71
Horrible Accident iut iutandsauap0its--A;
= Sewer caves tn-Etg hssMeu Almost
. sIasssDrfsy Killed. a.. ~ as ~

Horrible Accideait iut ut1nsRaauapoiis--A
Sewer saves EighssMeu Almost
Instantly Killed. NJ as-.}
From the indianapolis Journal, 21st.
Between and 10 o'clock yesterday morn
ING the city was startled by the report chat
n section Of the Kentucky avenue sewer
had cayed in, and tbut O large number OF
laborers were buried under the earth and
timbers. Hurrying feet ut once carried
large crowds In that direction. when 1t was
found that In this instance rumor had not
exaggerated. The point where the accident
occurred Is something less than one mum
dred feet above the Lafayette railroad track,
where the excavation was about tWelVeice
wide by twenty-five in depth.
The sheeting or heavy plank driven down
| to ouurd against such occurrences as hap-
pened Yesterday are only nllOwed-accord-
Ing TO the statement OF one OF the contrac-
tors-to reach as far US the centre OF the
brick work Of the sewer. proper. From
the termination rounding ditch or scmi-i
circle is dug to depth sufficient to accom-.
| modate one half of the masonry.
The immediate cause of the accident ap-;
pears to have been the carclessness or iguo-
| rance of the workmcn IN digging almost
directly down on u line with the sheetlng.;
Immediately above, on the south side OF the
sewer, were the immense quantities OF earth
thrown out, and these combined with the
| grayelly character of the soil at the base,
! forced the mass beneath the planklng.
When once started, the cross-braces drop
ned, and the enormous pile came crushing
down with irresistible force. After one
| cross piece had given away, tue resistance
offered by the balance amounted to nothing
| whatever, and the heavy planks, loists,
| and beams were crushed like so many pipe
stems.
From the time the first alarm was given
| till tho work OF death was complete not
more than one minute elapsed, end gen
] tleman who stood within thirty feet in
forms us that he heard a crash, looked
around instantly, and all was over. As may
| be supposed. the report OF the disaster
sDread like Wild.tire, the dire news appear-
| ing to reach the families Of the unfOrtulluts
men in the lower part Of the city before 1t
| was hardly heard OF on Washington street.
| These were among the first to reach the
ground and it was well that number OF
policemen arrived almost simultaneously,
as the female portion Of the relatives APP
| peared to be almost beyond control. a
| few dcsllltory efforts were made TO reach
the bodies, Whcu it was discovered there
was danger of further catastrophcs, and it
was found necessary to proceed systemltl-
| cally, and rcsheet both sides the full dis
taDcc of the break.
| Considerable time elapsed in doing this,
though the utmost spccd possible was made,
and in the meantime a large force was
placed at work removing The sand ana
gravel from the neighborhood Of the edge
Of the ditch. For nearly al hour after the
accident the voices OF some OF inc men
could be heard quite distinctly, and there
was hone that, being protected by the
timbers, some, if not all of them, could be
rescued alive. AS the minutes dragged
their slow length, however, the most SAN
4 gllinc lost all faith, and it therefore caused
great astonishmcnt when cries were heard
| from the upper edge of the fallen mass be-
tween II md u o'clock. Several men in.
stantly proceeded TO the spot. and through
the timberS they could indistinctly see The
face Of one Of the victims, and distinctly
hear his vcice. He said that his name was
John Gibson, that he could breathe com"
| fnrtably. but that his legs were fast III the
| tImbcys, and LIat he was suffering terribly.
| He Also said that there were two dead men
touching him, and that he could hear no.
| thing more among those further III. Stlmr
ulants were passed to him, bat 10 hopes
were entertained of getting him out.
| On The lower side of the mass few
shovefulls of earth were thrown off, when
| the head of Il man WAS discovered, hut the
extremtics were fast, and IS he was be-
yond chances Of earthly assistance. the
body was left for the time, aud all efforts
dir erted to getting ut those whom there
might be even the rainlcst prospects of
saving. The admirable police arrangements
prevented the crowd from pressing too near
| the edge Of the sewer, aud it was well that
these details were so nearly perfect, Is in
the crush of the thousands continually
coming and going, and the almost insane
desire to obtain sight of the exact spot
where the men We're entumbed, some adj
ditions would have been mace to the hur-
rors of the day. }
| About 2 o'clock Gibson was rescued,
and. strange and unaccountable rs it may
seem. he was almost entirely unhurt,
being able to walk around without assist
ance, though somewhat stiff and sore from
his long confinement. But he was the only
| fortunate one OF the number. One after
another The bodies of jerry Sullivan, John
Grady, John Carr, Thomas Kennedy, Jno.
Haley, henry Dugan, and Jesse Barnes,
weEe taken out, the most of them present
ling sickening appearance. The last
named was not found till II o'clock last
night. ...