The Republican journal., 1873-10-09
Buried in a We'll.

y 30 ilil'l l'ullul lttlutlt nappcned TO
tWrll DIGGER, named Augustus Norbeigh,
Who was engaged in clearing ont a well
in LravenWorth, Kansas. on the ID INST.
The L":NcnWOrth Times, of the 3D. SAYS
about / O'Clock he was being let down
INTO the excavation 10 relieve a fellow-la-
bofrr and when he was near the bottom
the whole wall fell in on top of him, al
most completely filling up the hole, and
crushing the unfortunate man down into
the shallow water His voice could be
heard. calling in the most surplicating
tones for help. and rs soon as it was ascer-
tanned that the man was not killed. hun
drcdS of men set TO work to clear ont the
debris. WmdlasS was PIT in position.
buckets procured, and the stone raised at
the rate Of one bucket in Il minute and a
quarter. Al siN O'Clock. two hours after
the accident occurred, Il depth of sixteen
feet had been reached, and the voice of
Aorbeigh could be heard quite distinctly
calling upon his reScuers t" hurry up, for
he could not stand it much longer. The
excitement was intense As soon AS one
man tired al the windlasS another jumped
to nh his place The members of the
Fire Department We're on hand, and work
ed with desperation. Seven o'clock came.
and with it the cheering news that the
man still lived, which encouraged the
di@gers. Only nine feet more of stone TO
be removed and he would be freed fro,,
his terrible Situation. Darkness hindered
the progress of the work somewhat. but
lanterns we're supplied, and the task of ex-
cavatlng went on. Half past eight, and the
unfortunate man hat was found, jammed
between two large masses OF rock Quar-
ter TO nine. and the rim Of the bucket in
which he went down was struck, and I'M
derneath this was Norbeigh Then the
excitement among the crowd surround
ing the well began TO increase, and so
fierce was the rush toward the windlass
that several individuals had to be knocked
down by the police before the surging
mass could be forced back The bucket
was raised, and under this Norbeigh was
found, .lammed into sitting posture, and
Wedged up against one side of the well
by large, heavy stones. which pressed
heavily upon him. He was in good heart,
hoWey II and said he was not badly in
lured. His reScners had him uncovered
nearly to the shoulders, when they dis
covered that half of the wall which they
had failed to take down was showing in
dicatiOn> Of caying in. Still they worked
to eNtricate the man before such an event
should occur \ slight jar, however, oc-
casloned by one of the buckets being low
ered detached Il portion of the rock and
earth, which fell, striking one of the men
in the bottom by the name of Schiller, and
severely injured him about the neck and
face He was drawn up, leaving only
one man in the excavation with Norbeigh.
About this time the rattle of crumbling
earth warned those at the mouth of the
pit that the two men below were in danger
of being covered up again. The light
being lowered Il trightful cry from the
remaining man in the pit to send down
the bucket III once, was quickly respond
ed 10. Scarcely had the man, whose face
was blanched with fright, reached the
surface, when the remaining part of
the wall, accompanied by q large mass of
earth, cavcd in upon the unfortunate Nor
he'gh, who was still wedged in the bot
tom.
When this terrible fact became known,
the silence OF death prevailed Not
word was spoken or sound heard except
the heart -rending groans of the unfortu-
nate man VII" had been rescued from Il
noffl)ic uttiH ~ inc almost Supefhuman
efforts Of his fellows, only to be covered
again. Ii was a terrible scene The mans
family, consisting of a wife and seven
grown-up children, We're we'll nigh frantic
wrineing their hands in despair, and
screaming out the most piercing lamenta-
tions just before going to press we visit
ed the scene of the accident, and received
the astounding intelligence that the man
was still alive, and talked beneath the
mass OF stone and earth that covered him,
to the men at work above At 80
curb had been sunk, and the earth was be-
ing rapidly removed, but no hopes We're
entertained of his being got out before
morning. lie rests beneath nearly six 4
feet of clay and stones, and owing, to the
moist character of the earth it IS feared
that the supply of air will be shut off and
the man sutfocated. Physicians say he