Morning journal and courier., 1891-09-19
BURuED ALIVE.

John Dwyer Instantly Killed by . Cave-in of a Sewer on James Street His Body Not Recovered Until an
 Early Hour This Mornins-En.
 tombed for Nearly Twelve Hours-
 Heroic Efforts of the Rescuers of
 No Avail-The Victim Trying to
 Escape When Overtaken by the
 Avalanche-Two other Fatalaties
 Narrowly Averted.
 A peculiarly distressing accident, which resulted in the death of one man, the seri- ous disabling of @ second and the almost miraculous escape of third occurred at sewer which is being constructed on James street, yesterday afternoon, by the csving in of the ground near the opening which had been made in the street for the purpose of connecting the house at 225 James street with the sewer.
 John Dwyer, a bracer employed by Rourke Bros, the Grand avenue plumbers, was engaged in bracing the ditch yester- day afternoon. About 3:30 o'clock he had just reached the small pipe and was at the time some eighteen or twenty feet below the surface of the ground. ThomasRourke, father of the contractors, was in the pit working with him. Dwyer turned and asked Rourke, who resides at 26 Starr street, to hand him a short plank with which to cover the pipe. Rourke was in the act of handing him the piece of plank desired when he slipped and one of the braces fell out. The bracing immediately gave way and an avalanche of sand came rushing in on Dwyer. Rourke, who had not descended very deep into the pit, succeeded in reach ing one of the braces and managed to hold on, so that he was only buried up to the chest. He was, however, able to work himself out and sustained no injuries other than several scratches about his head and hands and a slight compression of sev- eral of his ribs. A third workman, William Jeffers, was also nearly covered, but man aged to extricate himself.
 The ditch was fully twenty feet deep and was braced with two tiers of blanks At the time of the accident Dwyer was at the bottom of the ditch and had nearly completed making the connection.
 Notice was at once sent to the precinct and the patrol wagon filled with officers was soon upon the scene of the accident The officers, headed by Officer Clancey, at once set to work endeavoring to uncover the unfortunate victim of the accident A large number of willing workers "clS soOn upou tuo sCouc anu luc WOIh proceeded in good earnest. The men worked with will and as soon as one was exhausted another stood ready to take his place. Instead of digging a large trench as they should have done the men dug straight down, and it soon became evident that extra bracing was necessary. Aid was immediately summoned and Patrick Connolly, another contractor, came to the assistance and aided in bracing up the ditch. More blanks were needed and these were immediately furnished by Austin Mansfield & Son of Grand avenue.
 It was not until after o'clock this morning that his whole body was ex- tricated. The body was taken in charge home on State street.
 Dwyer's death was instantaneous, the blanks having crushed in upon his head. When the body was discovered it was al- most in an upright position and gave every evidence of the victim having started to run toward the curbing when the ava lanche of earth overlook him. He was also badly crushed about the body. Med ical Examiner White was upon the scene of the accident and rendered verdict in accordance with the facts in the case.
 Dwyer was about thirty-fvs years of age and resided on State street. He leaves 8 wife and three children, who were present at the scene while the workmen were en- deavoring to extricste the husband and father from his perilous position.
 The crowd about the scene of the acci- dent numbered over 5000 at II o'clock.