St. Landry democrat., 1882-12-30
BURIED ALIVE.

i
Hor1fying Situation of Father and Son.
Hurled Deep by the Gazing in of a
Wll-One of the Parties Rescued-Ef-
foyts to Extricate the Other.
| EDWARD English and his son James began
digging a well on Tuesday last at Great Plain,
| twomiles distant from here They had sunk
thewell twenty-five feet, and on Friday after
| NON last mass of earth, with boards, timber
AMI stone, fell upon the two men, covering
| thin out of sight. An alarm was spread
| among the neighbors and help was quickly at
! the place. James Moore, Michael Downey and
| William Davis descended into the well by
lsdder to ascertain the condition of the unfort-
| mates, both Of whom were completely
hmmed in by dirt and timbers
and unable to move. Their situation
vas critical. The space about them was
scarcely more than two feet in diameter. 1t
vas impossible to reach the bottom of the well.
The men We're fastened in completely, and
ibove them was a hanging mass of earth ready
TO fall and smother them at any moment.
ADove, around the mouth of the well, was
crowd of men fully realizing the peril of the
father and son below. A small TIN pail was
attached to cord and let down. There was
no room for anything largs r. The son, who
had managed to get his hands clear, filled the
pail with earth as well as he could, and it was
drawn up and emptied. 1t was terribly
SLOW process, bnt there was no other way to
work. Mr.. English succeeded in getting his
nands Tree ais and he passed earth to the
son. who put 1T in the pail. In this way much
or the earth was removed; but the father,
held fast by the timber and stones resting ON
him, could not help himself further Mean
tlfne other means were adopted to release the
men,
;. On Saturday morning. eighteen hours after
tue Wen caved IN, rope was attached to the
son. and fortunately he was rescued. Friends
passed nourishment to the men in the pit at
the perl of their lives. The result of the re-
lease OF the son did not facilitate that of the
was firm and did not yield. He was pennedin,
without the power of moving either body Or
legs. Efforts were now directed to removing
the dirt about him, for which purpose small
fire shovel alone could be used The earth
was after while removed from his shoulders,
but the timber against his breast held him as
in vice. 1t could have been cut in two, but
it was feared its displacement in that manner
would prove fatal. Finally a windlass was
erected over the mouth of the well and an at
tempt was made to build new curb. This
work and what little could be done in remov-
ing loose earth took the whole Of Saturday.
Meantime the victim. twenty-five feet under
ground within hearing OF the Voices OF his
their reach, stood fastened in living grave
waiting for the cumination of the horror in a
frehtful death. Alive to every sound, startled
by every falling pebble, Mr.. English passed
through the hours of the day as he had
through tho night before-an eternity to one
thus imprisoned Nour.shment and medicines
We're passed to him.. At times his courage
gave out and he asked that all efforts be given
up and that he be left to his fate But friends
worked on. trying their hest to get him out,
saturday night there were several hundred
people on the ground, and a large proportion
of them remained till Sunday morning. Stll,
in spite of all that could be done. the sufferer
was not released, and when the first dawn of
the Sabbath broke it seemed as If rescue was
well nigh out of the question. The same feel
English, and he begged for knife th,t with
it he III ght d.his misery. After dayhreak
OF Sunday pr 1jeet TO tunnel by the, side OF
down below wheae the unfortnna { man lay.
The whole ef'dsnnday was occup ed in this
work When English heard of it hope was
revived. saf
Up to Sunday ACKNOWLEDGEMENT hours
after the caving in of the well-ths sufferer
had partaken of no solid food and had slept
not more than ten minutes. At daylight the
Danbury fre-alar1n had been sounded and the
firenlen detailed to duty at the scene. Services
in st. Peters Roman Catholic Church and in
people might go to the well and assist. All
through the day and despite d DRILLING rain
throngs OF citizens wendell their way to the
place, and at one time there were a thousand
persons present watching the work in the
tunnel. During these hours Mir. English was
cheered by frequent news of the progress made
for his release. At seven O'Clock last night
the tunnel was far enough advanced to
enable the head man to hear the voice
of Mr.. English. He cried to them: "Dig
away. boys" Every little while i after that he
helpers were they went at the work with fresh
zeal, caring naught for fatigue 50 long as he
was hopeful. 1t was wonderful that he was
alive after fifty hours in that awful condition.
AT ten o clock it was ought that in few min
utes he would he free. At midnight the earth
at the head of the tunnel broke away so fast
the passage was with difficulty advanced At
one o'clock this morning the tunnel had reach
ed the original curb of the well. Athalf past one
there was a slide inside just to the LETT of the
prisoner. He was called to, but there was no
response. Several times afterwarl he was
spoken to, but did not reply. man descended
into the well as fas as he dared. but could see
nothing Of Mr. English. 1t being believed
that he was dead work was begun on top of
the ground between the well and the pit in
order to recover the body.
Shortly after five o'clock this morning the
men had reached within three feetof the un-
fortunate, and continued their operations till
four o'clock this afternoon, when it was dis
covered that he was still breathing. There is
little hope that he can be extricated alive.
Work still continues, however, and will be
kept up until the object sought for is attained.
Mr.. English has wife and eleven children,
whose agonizing suspense inrfgard to the fate
of the husband and father is beyond descrip-
ton -Ddnb,trp Comm Cor. ". 7. Herald.
lit has since been reported that Mr.. English
yag killed by a subsequent cayinp in of earth