Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1875-10-01
A Terrible Death.
4 MAN BURIED ALIVE IN WILL ALL II
FORTS TO RESCUE HIa USAyAlLlNG. -
THRILLING SCENES.

I MAN BURIED ALIVE IN A wEfL-,rr rr.
FORTS To RESCUE uIa UxAvAu!NG- -
THRILLING SCENES.
At West Springfield. Mas. the a,I
Lester Sykes. while at the bottom or q
newly dug well, thirty-segen iset deep.
was buried BY the quieksand which an
dermned the eurbing The ,i.nkins Of
the curb was forced against hie. and pro-
tec'ed him from being crushed. His cries
ioF help soon brought assistance. and =
large number Of workmen, under the di-se-
ton y: the imprisoned man. began Digging
a circular pit for thirty feet around the
well, the treacherous quicksand zen Ieripg
this large exeltation necessary. The work
was continued all night, 4 large bonfire
being lighted for the purpose oil enab:inc
the men to go on. \ pipe WAS forced
through to give him air, and unit, three
clock next morning the man. Voice WAS
heard to answer the inquiries made by the
re>eulng party. Alter, this no respon-e
came from him. and IL was thought laT
sOme time that he was dead Later, now
e7er, 1t was asserted that faint means could
be heard, and the relief party vigorously
renewed their efforts The news ii the SIN
GUAR accident spread rapidly. and caused
great excitement. hundreds visiting the
place and remaining all night.
The work OF the rescue continued all ,l4y
Thursday and until Friday morning. On
thursday noon. the imprisoned man sooke
and asked the men to be clrelul 10 pr5tee-
him and get him out and give him some
water. physician was Summoned 80 a.
TO render every assistance should the man
nc GOT out awe AT twenty-five minutes
past one Sykes ieebly ans ered ''yes, " to the
question, Are YOU alive yetP and the
command OF the the engineer, Work like
men. was not needed, for every man was
t9ins MS Dest. so far as tools could be |
obtained, ana many more brought bundles
OF straw, which were used tn mack thcr, /
the planking and stop tho leaking sand |
AT hali-past two another utterance lron, /
Sykes encouraged the tired men. No1. /
stopped for dinner. Huge baskets NJ /
crackers and cheese were passed around 4
but lev had time or desire to cat. Tbe
Earth was hard and graveilg, and dieeinr
was uiscouraging work. a,lhe crowd in
'feased ana probably 1000 persons and 200
eatns were IN the vicinity a, three n'clock
70 ioou or nourishment could be piyer
SYKES as he could not get hands or mouth
p the pipe which furnished him with air
More than twenty-four hours he had been
'ramped. buried and starved. and vet h.
continued to live and retain his faculties
lie was heard to SPEAK feebiy at three
e!9ek After that all was silent. The
work alter that time proceeded with the Ut
most speed consistent with safety; vs.
io"iy at the best, as all the earth from
he well had to be hauled out with bnake,s
Is night second time closed oyer the
emo " vas lighted up by the glare nr
NO locomotive headlights. Large nan.
ers OF people remained far into the niybI
oping, almost against hope, that sSks,
light yet be rescued. At midnight ali e.
'rts to obtain even word from Sykss wsrs
navaliing. and there was no hope tia, he
Jas alive. For some inexplicabie reason. ,
le piece OF gas-pipe through which sykes
sd been furnished air was pulled ont dur. :
y the afternoon under the superstition
lat be had air enough without n and he i
nv have sufocstsd IN consequence. On