The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1875-03-18
SINGULAR ACCIDENT.
Swallowed up In a Pit-An Exciting
Affair and Rescue.

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The Baltimore Sun of the 10th inst, has
the following =
An extraordinary and most unfortunate
accident happened yesterday morning to a.
young woman, Mary Manning, employed
in the family of Mr.. Robert T. Baldwin,
No 335 Madison avenue. She was in the
yard in the rear of the dwelling hanging
out clothes on line to dry, and talking tol
a man servant who stood in the doorway
All of sudden the pavement sank beneath
her and she disappeared as completely as if
she had been swallowed by an earthquake.
The man ran to the spot and was Mortified
to see chasm running obliquely under
ground over twenty-five feet, which had
engulted the woman and completely hid
her from view The household was i'm
medlat.ly notified, and the ladies were
stizied with great alarm. Mr.. Robert
Baldwin, Jr., aided by neighbors and
servants who had been summoned, speedily
lowered ladder twenty feet long into the
fissure, displacing mass of sand and
debris. The young woman could not be
seen but her voice was heard by these
above ground. She seemed to have fallen
through the small end of funnel, descend
ing into an unknown area below, judging
by the hollow sound of her voice The
pavement area that had caved in was about
four feet square, the earth underlying it
being fine white sand.
A rope was pushed down to the girl with
clothes prop. W. H. Worley, with some
difficulty, descended the lader and displaced
the debris, SO that the girls head and
shoulders became visible She fastened
the rope under her arms and ready hands
above proceeded to draw her up, but the
rope broke and the operation had to be
repeated. At last, aided by the efforts of
Mr.. Worley, who stood on the top rung of
the ladder, and by Mr.. Robert Baldwin, Jr.,
who was above, the girl was drawn from
the pit. She was greatly prostrated, and
was dripping with mud and water. Her
head and face were covered with blood
There were several deep cuts on her head
caused by falling bricks, but DR.. B. B.
Brown, who was at hand, found the skull
had not been fractured. The injured girl
was taken into the house and most tenderly
cared for, but last night her condition was
very precarious The unfortunate young
woman is about twenty-five years of age,
and has been living with the family for two
years, two Of her sisters being also in the
house.
The cause Of the singular accident was
evident when close examination had been
made. Mr.. Baldwin's premises has so feet
front by 100 feet deep. There is a well 80
feet deep IN the rear Of the yard, walled
in on each side all the way down to running
water. Into this is conveyed by a six inch
pipe all the waste from the bathrooms and
closets in the upper stories. About year
ago small portion Of the yard area sank
few feet, and PAYERS were employed to FL
up and repave the yard, which they did,
and since then there had been no trouble
1t now seems, however, that the waste pipe,
on its way to the we'll, became disconnected,
and for some time past the water from the
house has percolated through over thirty
feet Of the sandy foundation of the yard to
the running water beneath the well, form
ing pit shaped something like a funnel
The upper surface gave way and precipitat-
ed the girl to the bottom.