The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1876-08-04
a Family Lime KIIm.
Especial correspondence of the World


PITTsvILLE, PA, July 18th, 1876.
The farm of John E. Cameron near
this place was the scene of a fearful
tradedy yesterday morning. Mr..
Cameron early in the day built a fire
in his lime kiln. He lowered his son
by means of the bucket and windlass
into the kiln to see that everything
was in order there, then the two went
to their work half mile away. The
operation of lowering the boy into the
pit had been witnessed by two other
children of Mr.. Cameron's, a boy nine
years old and a girl aged five. Soon
after their father had gone away the
| little boy told his sister to get in the
bucket and he would give her a ride.
lie helped her in, lowered her to the
| bottom of the kiln. When he attempt
ed to pull the bucket up he could not
move it, and otter several attempts he
ran home and told his mother. Mrs.
Cameron and her mother-in- law, Ia
| dy about 20 years old, were the only
persons in the house. They both ac-
companied the boy to the kiln. Mrs.
Cameron, on looking down into it, saw
the body of her child lying in the bot
tom of the pit, she having fallen from
| the bucket, and discovered that the
noxious fumes from the burning lime
| stone had commenced to fill the kiln,
| Not believing that her child was yet
dead, Mrs. Cameron placed her little
son in the bucket, and telling him to
put the body of his sister in it and to
! get back into it himself as soon as pos
sible, she lowered him to the bottom.
| He jumped from the bucket and lifted
the body of the little girl into it, and
then clinging to the side of it was
drawn a short distance upward, when
the gas overpowered him and he fell
| back to the bottom. Mrs. Cameron
hurriedly drew up the bucket contain
| ing the body of her child, and placing
the body in the yard told her mother
| in-law that she would have TO go
down into the kiln herself to rescue
her son, and that the old lady must
handle the windlass. The latter
grasped the crank, and Mrs. Cameron
climbed into the bucket. Her mother
in-law lowered her one or two turns
of the crank, when the weight became
too much for her strength, and the
crank slipped from her hands, striking
her in the head as it whirled around
and knocking her senseless to the
ground. Mrs. Cameron was hurled
violently to the bottom of the kiln, and
! was doubtless rendered unconscious
before the poisonous gases affected her.
The heat in the kiln was now becom-
ing intense, and but for the timely ar
rival of aid the bodies of Mrs. Cameron
and the boy would in a short time
have been burned up. The Pottsvilie
stage came along by the kiln not long
after Mrs. Cameron was precipitated
into it, and John Kane, seeing the boz
dies of the little girl and old Mrs.
Cameron, the latter bleeding about the
head, lying on the ground, jumped
down to make an examination. He
soon discovered the bodies in the kiln.
and calling to gentleman who was a
passenger in the stage, the two set a.
bout a rescue. Kane climbed into the
pit, down the windlass-rope, and plac-
ing Mrs. Cameron and the boy in the
bucket, and it was raised by his COM
panion. So dense was the poisonous
J gas and heat that when the bucket,
was lowered for Kane he with difficult
tY erawled into the bucket, and when
he was hauled to the top he was un-
conscious. The fresh air revived him
but was some time before he was
Athletic get upon his feet. Old hrs
Cameron was restored to conscious
ness, but the other three were past ali
aid.
During the past seven years ten per-
sons have lost their lives in this lime
kiln under circumstances similar to
the above.