Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1890-01-10
A DREADFUL FATE.
Terrible Caisson Disaster on
the Ohio River.
SIXTEEN MEN DROWNED LIKE RATS

Caught by n Sudden Rush of Water, but
Four Out of Twenty Escspe-Frenxied
Struggle In the Air-Chamber AS to Who
count of the Disaster by One of the
Survivors Three Bodies Recovered
The Record of Mishaps.
LOUISVILLE, Jan 10-Sixteen men work.
ing In a caisson used in the excavation of a
foundation for q pier of the new bridge
across the Ohio river between this city and
Jacksonville were caught by sudden burst
Of water, caused, 1t is thought, by too
rapid excavation, and are believed TO have
been drowned Engines and workmen were
kept at work all night trying to pump out
the water, repair the break and extricate
the men, but thus far without success.
Description of the Death Trap.
The caisson is located 200 yards from the
Kentucky bank, in about twenty-five of
water. Twenty men were at work in it
The caisson proper is twelve feet under
water and is reached by man-hole shaft,
which projects above the water surface.
This shaft is reached by four trap doors
from the interior of the caisson, which is
kept supplied with air at high pressure
sometimes in cases like this a pressure of two
water and enable the men in the lower
chamber to dig out the sand, etc.
The Burst of Water.
Shortly before o'clock last evening, while
the men were excavating in the bottom of
the caisson, the water from the river burst
under the edge of the huge machine, and the
unfortunate workmen were caught like rats
In a trap. OF the twenty men in the Gals
son when the flooding was first noticed, Abe
Taylor, Frank Haddox, Louis Couch and
James Morrill, succeeded in reaching the
traps to the manhole shaft and escaped. The
fate of the others is yet unknown, but there
is hardly possibility that any of them are
alive.
The Men Entombed.
Those still in the caisson are Thomas John
son, Monroe Boiling, Foreman John Knox,
Frank Mayer, Fred Soaper, Joseph Nc
Adams, Tom Ash, Hamilton Morris, W. E.
Haynes, Reuben Tyler, Chris Childs, Thomas
Smith, John Gordon, Louis Cox and Peter
Nailor, and one other, name not given.
Haynes, Knox, McAdams, Mayer, and
Nailor are white men, the others negroes.
A Survivor Tells the Story.
Abe Taylor, one of the survivors, tells the
following story of the accident, and the hor-
rible fight for life of the panic-stricken work
men imprisoned in the air chamber beneath
the bed of the river.
"The men were at work in the soft bottom
Of the river. They made such rapid pro-
gress to-day in the muddy surface that the
excavation went down-faster than the
caisson, whose great weight was expected to
carry II gradually down, keeping pace with
the work of excavating-to a rock founda-
ton. This afternoon an unusual quantity
of water began TO trickle from under the
caisson's edges but the pumps were at work
taking it out and no apprehension was felt
Gradually the incoming tide increased until
suddenly from under the edge of the caisson
on every side a food gushed in
Frantic struggle for Life.
THE men too late realized their deadly
peril and all rushed for the exit into the
escape pipe Immediately around the trap
door which admitted to liberty and life the
frantic unfortunates fought like demons, all
knowing that but few of them could pass
through the inner trap before the air-cham-
Der was completely filed by the in-rushing
tide. Only one could go through at a time,
and rs one man gained pre-eminence he
was snatched by his frenzied companions and
drawn back into the struggling crowd
The Relentless Flood Pours In.
Meanwhile the food rose swiftly and re-
lentlessly. The caisson roof was scarcely
higher than the mems heads, and to be left
behind was thought to be certain death"
Taylor says he was the last of the survivors
to escape into the outer lock As heescaped
from the clutches Of a dozen hands, and
leaped through the trap into the outer lock
he heard Knox, the foreman, shout: For
Gods sake, hurry, boys, it's getting over my
head; let the shortest men go first
The trap fell back behind Taylor and shut
his doomed comrades from view. 1t is sup
posed that before any others could escape
they were all drowned.
Bare Chance for Life.
The workmen at the pumps, at late hour
last night, however, thought there was a
chance that some of the imprisoned workmen
were still alive. The air gauge on the engine
which pumps air into the caisson shows u
strong and steady pressure of air in the air
shaft and caisson, and it is thought possible
that the compressed air in the caisson will be
sufficient TO keep the water from rising to
the top, and that some Of the men may be
able so keep their heads above water until
released
The Men all Dead.
LATERAL a. IN. the outer chamber of
the caissOn was reached and three bodies
were found. All of the men in the caisson
proper are known TO be dead. Messrs Sooy
Smith q Co., of New York, are the con-
tracing engineers in charge Of the caisson
work; the Phoenix Bridge company,
Pennsylvania corporation, have the contract
for the construction of the bridge.
whisky the Probable Cause.
The engineers theory Of the accident,
which is partially supported by facts OBJ
tanned from the workmen who escaped, is
that the foreman, who, IL is alleged, had
been drinking, while attempting to reduce
the air pressure, turned the valve of the sup
ply pipe too far and the pressure on the in
terror Of the caisson became 80 low that it
was not sufficient to keep out the water.
ACCIDENT ON THE UNION PACIFIC.