St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1880-11-19

ton of sinking now we'll close beside
the old one was discussed, as being the
best way of getting the man out alive.
John Natho, German of Hoppoque,
and accustomed to working in wells,
offered to undertake the Job, and at
midnight it was begun. A hole about
four feet square was opened, three feet
from the side of the old well. Mr..
Howell's hired man, James Turney,
harnessed pair of horses, and drove
off in search of lumber with which to
make casing for the new well, as such
casing was needed to prevent the sand
and gravel from falling in. AS soon as
the lumber arrived, a number of car
penters set to work to make a box
about IA feet long and four feet square.
The new well was sunk as rapidly as
possible, and slowly the wooden casing
was set down to prevent the side of the
excavation from falling in.
1t took till o'clock Thursday after
noon to sink the new we'll % feet. At
about 10 a. m. of that day Browns voice
was hushed, and everybody supposed
him to be dead. Having reached a
depth of % feet, the work men tunnelled
through into the old well, and were sur
prised to find it empty. A torch was
taken down, and crawling through the
tunnel, they shouted to the buried man.
No response came. Then looking up
into the dark cavern. they saw that the
we'll was open up to within about IF
teen feet of the surface of the ground.
There it was clogged by the wedging of
three or four large boulders from the
side of the old we'll. Then the men as
cended till they reached the level of
those boulders, and there made another
tunnel. As they reached the old well
and began to pull out the earth and
stones they again heard Browns voice.
To undermine him would send him to
the bottom of the well, which would be
certain death. So the work was sus-
pended.
Thursday passed, and Friday night
came. Nobody knew what to do. There
was stone arch under the buried man
which prevented him from falling to the
bottom of the well, and another stone
arch over his head that prevented him
from being crushed. A great crowd had
gathered at the place, and it became
necessary to put up a rough railing
around the we'll to keep them back.
Fifty burning torches lent a ghostly ap-
Pearance to the scene, and now and
then the sound of the mans voice ap-
pealing for help was heard by the e1-
cited crowd. No one dared go down
into the old well, as it was feared at
each removal of basketful of earth
that the arch might cave in. At length
two or three men volunteered to under
take the work, no matter what the con-
sequences. Only one at time descend
ed into the well. Tons upon tons of
earth and rock were raised, and by 3
o'clock on Friday morning Browns
voice could be distinctly heard. He
said that the sand was fast filing in
about him, that it was nearly up to the
level of his mouth, and that if he was
not out inside of twenty minutes he
would be suffocated. He had then
been in his living tomb about thirty
FIVE hours.
came down to the large stones that
formed the upper arch. They were then
able to converse easily with the en-
tombed man, who begged for water. A
rubber hose was filled with water, and
one end was let down to him. Brown
took three swallows, and then the hose
was pulled out. After about two hours
more work his head was got free and
above ground. Then he was given
brandy and beef tea. A hard job was
still before the workmen-much harder
in fact than they expected. After get
ting Browns body uncovered it was
found that one of his feet was so wedg-
ed between the stones composing the
lower arch that it seemed impossible to
get it ont. Hours were spent ia futile
attempts to free the entrapped foot and
it was suggested that the only way to
get the man out and save his life was to
get a surgeon and amputate the ankle.
But by constant work the limb was ex-
tricated, and at ten minutes past seven
on Friday morning Brown was taken
out and landed safely on the ground.
He had no broken bones, but he was
very badly bruised. He was completely
exhausted, and tainted while being TAX
en- into Mr.. Howell's. He was buried in
the well 80 hours-two nights and one
day.
Sunday, Brown was at his own home,
a quarter of mile from the Smithtown
railroad station. He was attended by
kind relations. He said that during the
whole time of his interment he had nc
hope of ever being taken out alive. He
said that when he went down into the
we'll he saw that part of the walling
had fallen in, leaving an opening about
two feet square. Concluding that il
was not safe to work in the we'll until
that was filled in, he nevertheless de-
cided to descend to the bottom and see
what was needed to be doue down
there. On ascending, one of his feet
happened to touch the wall where il
was damaged, and Immediately the
whole thing tumbled in. The large
stones wedged and formed two arches
one above and one below him. He
gan to dig on top. He shouted fo
about two hours, then lost his voice an(
had to keep silent. Two or three time
he was unconscious, but whether from
exhaustion or from a natural desire TO
sleep he did not know. Brown said b,
had no hope of getting out alive unit
he felt some one take hold of his hand
AS soon as possible rope was fasten
ed about his waist, SO that all DANCE
of his falling to the bottom of the wei
was obviated. When his head wa
partly free he dictated message to hi
mother and another to his sweetheart
Brown is still Frustrated, but is rapid.
recovering.
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