Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1881-02-03
OCCURRENCES or INTEREST.
IA WonderfaI Escape.

1 .
joan WILSON, the miner who was buried
| alive under a snOw-slide which filled the shaft
In which be was working, near Chalk Ranch,
last Friday, is not dead Sunday forenoon
about eleven o'clock his chilled body was
hauled out of the shaft where it had lain for
forty-eight hours under twenty-six feet Of
packed snow, and Wilson will live to tell to
wondering listeners tale as thrilling, terrible
and pathetic as any ever told by Dumas or
| Hugo. John Wilson is a Colorado miner lying
in q cabin near Chalk Ranch, thanking God
for tho brave, true friends who dared and
| did 30 much to rescue him from the grave
where he was buried alive. Mr.. John Vir
gin, an officer of the Citizens Mining and
Investment Company, Of this city, returned
last night from the cabin beyond Chalk
Ranch, where Wilson now lies, and gives a
graphic account of the perils which surround
ed the expedition going from this city to VIII
sons rescue. and also the facts of the rescue
itself. Mr.. Virgin owns the claim, the Alice
Logan, on which Wilson and his partner, W.
G.. Chapman, were working, and when Mr..
Chapman brought the news of the snOw-slide
on Friday night, Mr.. Virgin, accompanied by
his three friends G. w. Crews, Leslie Caldwell
and j. M. Downing, all of whom had Known
Wilson in Illinois, at once started on horse
back for the scene. 1t was night of storm
and snow, and four men were going out in 1t,
well knowing the peril OF the trip, but de-
terInined to do all that was possible in hu.
man nature to rescue the poor fellow "
ing in the shaft. They believed fully, as
all others did, that Wilson was dead, and
that the work of rescue would be but thework
Of disinterrinR a corpse. The four men trav-
eled all night along a traGlsless course through
snow from three to five feet deep, blinded by
the storm which beat in their faces, at one
place struggling for three hours IN the deep,
soft snow to make distance OF half a mile.
They gotto Chalk Ranch at five o'clock Satur-
day morning, utterly exhausted, and, after
short rest, went on, leaving their horses be-
hind. From Chalk Ranch to the cabin the
snow was from five to seven feet deep, and
they struggled along through this snow until
three O'Clock In the afternoon before they
made the three miles to the cabin. The
storm was whiriing the snow in their
faces, and at times some of the party would
sink down to sleep, indifferent from
exhaustion to the peril of such course, and
others would drag them up. When they
reached the foot of the hill on which the
cabin stands, Virgin and Downing fell down
in the snow and were asleep in an instant,
Crews and Caldwell started up the hill to the
cabin, and several times the former fell for
ward asleep, only to he kicked and cutfed
into renewed efforts by Caldwell, and when
they reached the cabin Crews was almost in
the condition Of the poor, pailld object lying
In CHASTITY sumber in the shaft near by under
twenty-siX feet of snow. Caldwell made a
fire, and, returning to the foot of the hill,
aroused the sleepers there and guided thom
to the cabin. 1t was impossible for men in |
their condition to do any work that afternoon, !
and It was not until neXt moruing that the
four could make their way to the shaft up the |
steep mountain side through seven feet Of |
snow. Chapman and another man came up |
during the night and the six went to work to |
get the snow out of the shaft. They fastened |
a gunny sack to the rope and filling the sack, |
cleaned out the shaft as rapidly as possible
When near the bottom Chapman's shovel
broke through a crust Of snow, and there,
crouched In one corner with his head fallen
forward resting on the point of pick, was
poor Wilson. my God, he's allve" cried |
Chapman, as he fell back faint and siok. A
low moan issued from the blue lips OF
the crouching object. The men worked
with frantic energy, and, tying a rope
under Wilson'S arms, drew him out of
the shaft, and with great difficulty got
him down the hill to the cabin. The body was
chilled and damp, the eyes swollen and closed
and the teeth ClenChed. The limbs we're rigid,
but not frozen The faint moan coming
through the clenched teeth was the only sign
Of life, and while one man went for a doctor
to RoblsOns camp the others worked inces-
sanity for hours, rubbing the body with whis-
ky and Gamphor to restore circulation, and
getting whisky down his throat by prying open
his mouth. After five or six hours work Will
son showed additional signs Of life, and In the
course Of the night consciousness returned.
Before Mr. Virgin left, Wilson could converse
and give some idea Of his experience. He
says that when the shaft filled with snow
he thought Chapman was buried like himself,
and that both would die Of suffOcation He
went to work with frantic energy, trying to
climb upwards, but in few moments con-
Iciousness grew dim, and he sank down in his
Omb to die. He knew nothing after that. The
NOW was packed tightly in the shaft hut inn
around his person there was a space
If several inches, and this furnished enough
lir to prevent immediate suffocation. Will
ons escape confirms the theory that air pene
rates through thick covering of snow IN
Quantities sufficient TO sustain life, Wilson
vas buried forty-eight hours, and had no SORT
'us bruises on his body. He will soon be en-
irely restored - LeddUNlG Democrat.
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