Louisiana capitolian. (Baton Rouge, La.) 1879-1881, 1880-10-02
THE FIRST BODY.
THE SKELETON OF A HUMAN BEING FOUND
IN THE HUDSON RIVER TUN-
MEL EXCAVATION.

The body of one of the men who were
buried beneath the fallen root OF the
Hudson river tunnel at Jersey City was
found about nine o'clock this evening,
by q laborer cxcayating in the caissoh'
The discovery was Immediately re-
ported to Engineer Lovejoy, who held
conference with Mr.. Fowler the secre-
tary of the company, and they decided
to keep the discovery as secret as posi-
HE. The laborers and foremcn were
instructed not to diyulge the news to
any one, and it was resolved not to in
form the police nor the coroner until
the following morning. 1t was feared
that the news might cause confusion,
through the excitement that might be
produced among the relatives and friends
of the victims Of the disaster.
The Sun says that late this afternoon
Engineer Lovejoy was convinced that
the bodies might be found at any mo-
ment. The men were ordered to remove
the dirt with the utmost care, tor though
the connecting chamber which had
caved in was lined with iron plates,
substantially bolted together, it was
thought that the violence with which
the roof had fallen might have severed
them, and in that event the bodies
would be exposed to blows from care
lessly handled shovel. After all hour
several of the iron plates were reached.
O. They had been wrenchcd and broken
apart. 10 extricatc these plates with
out iniuring any of the bodies that were
,s,,pposed to be i'll their vicinity was no
easy task.
As James Cunningham, one Of the
workmen, drove his spade into tho
ground, its blunt edge met with more
than the usual resistance in the mud.
Imagining that he had struck a stone
or a fragment Of the brick lining Of the
tunnel, he stopped down, and, resting
on his knee, attempted with his right
hand to remove the obstacle. He inser'
ted his arm in hole that had been
made by his spade, and almost instantly
drew it back with a cry, and sprang to
his feet.
His cry attracted the attention OF his
comrades. "What is the matter there"
asked Engineer Lovejoy. Before he had
received any reply, he sprang down to
where the man was leaning against his
a.. shovel. Mr.. Lovejoy knecled down in
the slit, and after few minutes work
ing uncovered the top of a human skull.
The earth about the skull was taken
away until the head, neck, and upper
part of the chest of a man were reveal
The bones were in great part wholly
bale. 1t was impossible to identify the
body, as it was destitute Of any REM
.nant of clothing.
The superintendent endeavored, with
the assistance of some of the laborers,
to dig away the debris that held the
body in position, but they were unable
to make any progress. The body had
been so tightly wedgcd in between the
falling plates that it could not be NOV
ell. The man seemed, from the situa-
ton of his head and shoulders, to have
died III an almost erect posture, and was
probably crushed almost simultaneously
by the sides and roof of the chamber
r. The prosecution of the work was dis
continued, but it will be resumed to-
morrow after the coroner has been
summoned, and proper appliances to
Iisengage the bodies will be procured.
Cunningham, the man who found the
body, said that when he put his arm
into the hole made by his spade to pull
out, as he supposed, a stone which was
obstructins his spade, he felt the dead
mans teeth. He was almost overcome
with horror.
A later dispatch says:
1t is stated that all the bodies at the
Hudson river tunnel will be recovered
by Friday. The body found last night
is not yet identified. The hair had en-
tirely disappeared from the head and
partially left the face, while the should
ers were very much sunken. Only ten
of the twenty men buried had relatives
in this country, the other ten being
Swedes and Danes.
The payments Of the weekly salaries
to the families of the ten who are rccog
Aized, will stop with the end of this
week. After the bodies are regainc1
the Tunnel Company will bear the ex-
penses of all the funerals, and after that
will pay the families Of the men some
final sum that will partly satisfy them
for the loss.