Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1871-09-29
MIRACULOUS ESCAPE FROM
DEATH.
Seven Hours Under Ground

MIhACULOUS ESCAPE FROM
DEATH.
Seven Hours Under GrOundi
One of those strange and miracu.
lous events seldom recorded, occurred
In a city last Saturday. Between
the hours of eight and nine o'clock
In the morning, l.. N. Fabrick, OF
the firm of Fabrick Bros, with the
aid of his engineer--Alexander
Marks-was setting q pump In the
well Of A. 8. Smith. Marks went
down into the well to adjust the
pump and soon discovered, next the
bottom, about four feet not walled
up. He In some way touched q Ger.
tain stone with his foot. which Lad
evidently acted az q wedge, and
loosening the ground. 1t commenced
to give way. Seeing the walls begin
Ing to sway. he called for a rope, at
the same time holding the wall In
place while attempting to get up as
far rs possible. Mr.. Fabrick threw
him q rope and he had succeeded in
getting IL around one wrist when the
walls gave way and he was buried
amidst the stone and dirt some fifteen
feet under ground. The alarm was
given and Dol hundreds Of our citi-
zens were on the spot. In the midst
of the excitement, which prevailed,
Jno. e. Owens, Of Parkersburg, who
happened to be at Mr.. Smiths, was
selected to lead in the work Of secur~
ing his remains, for 1t seemed then
impossible that he could survive but
q few moments. Fortunately Marks
had been thrown by the side of the
pump stalk and the stone above him
had become so blocked as to allow
him air and light. He soon indicated
to the crowd above. that he was all
right, and work was commenced
with all possible dispatch. 1t was,
however, slow, as q temporary crib
had to be built as fast as the digging
progressed, to keep the dirt from cav
ing In. A tube was run down the
side of the pump and a bellows was
set to work to give him air. An
hour passed and the crowd was
silenced. "Are you all right?" was
the word passed down." "All right
yet" came the faint voice below
There Is q strange feeling at such a
time. "How long can he survive ?"
Twill 1t be possible to get him out?"
were the EXPLANATIONS which passed
from mouth to mouth. The work of
digging out the stone and dirt con-
tinued until noon. Several feet
downward had been gained; the
crowd became dense and impatient
as the probabilities Of getting him
out alive grew less probable. Some
suggested that he should be rescued
by e~xcavating the earth at the side
and men and shovels were soon at
work. In the mean time the work
was prosecuted with vigor by MI.
Owens and his co.laborers.
At l p. nj. the word came up from
the man, "tell Fabrick to come down
and relieve me, 1 want to 60 to din
ner." That was pluck for you, after
having been then four hours under
ground. At length his head was
reached, then his shoulders, by the
workmen in the we'll. The outside
excavations ceased. But the trying
hour had come. He was wedged in
90 closely that 10 rope could be got
around him, and below him was sev-
eral feet of space. Finally, by loos-
ing his arms, he succeeded in putting
q rope around him, and was pulled
up on terra firma. having been
underground about 7 hours. He
was but slightly injured, and walked
Off to the carriage as though noth>
ing Of consequence had occurred
His wife knew nothing about 1t until
AFTER ne mao got out.
Marks, informs us that he never
thought anything else but that he
should get out alive. He saw day
light, and could hear them talk
about him, which gave him courage.
He thinks IL the outside excavations
had continued much farther he would
never have got out, as the gravel and
sand would certainly have caved In
upon him. What seems still more
strange about 1t, IL that two men
were down In the well about q week
a whole day before cleaning 1t out,
and knew nothing Of the danger
they were in. The affair In one of
those remarkable cases occurring once
In ten thousand, where 1t Is easy to
conjecture how the victim might
30 easily have been killed, and where
1t can scarcely be imagined how he
could escape with his life. We are
unable to give credit to the many
who rendered assistance. There
seemed no lack for help, and all who
felt that they could do anything
were ready to lend an assisting
hand.
Mr.. GREELEY AT WATERLOO
The Tribune philosopher discussed
% so1S mada man ~ sccordfn0 tn nro.