Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-11-22
BROOKLYN INDANGER.
A Break in a Big New Water Main
Buries Four WOrkmen, and
THREATENS A PRETTY DRY TINE.
The City's Source of Water Completely Cut
Off, and One Reservoir
MUST SUPPLY THE RESIDENTS TODAY
rsPEcIAL TELEGRAM TO THE DrsPArCH.i

rspEcIAL TELEGRAM TO THE DISPATCH,
NEW YORK, Nov. 21.-By the caving-in
at 1:30 this afternoon of the bank of the new
auxiliary water main alongside of the old
Brooklyn conduit four workmen were buried
alive, and their bodies have not yet been re-
covered. Horrible as this disaster is in loss
of life, the results may prove still more far
reaching, and seriously impair the comfort
of the one million odd residents of Brook
lyn.
The incoming supply of water of the city
has been completely cut off, and unless the
damage caused by the cave-in can be re-
paired before Monday noon the 90,0OO,000
gallons OF water in the Ridgewood reservoir
will be exhausted, and Brooklyn citizens
will either have to dig up old wells or draw
upon the limited supply of New York City,
There is one we'll in the pumping station at
Ridgewood from which 1000, 900 or 8, ,OO0, 900
gallons day can be forced, but that would
not be enough to prevent water famine.
The broken conduit is buried under 35
feet of sand, and no attempt was made to
uncover it tonight. The workmen refused
even to 90 down into the trench where their
fellow workmen had been buried until the
big pile of sand on the side of the embank-
ment that threatened at any moment to
slide down into the trench had been re-
moved.
A Water Famine May Be Averted.
A gang of 100 Italians is working all
night to remove this sand and tomorrow
morning an effort will be made to recover
the bodies of the men who were buried and
to expose the broken conduit Unless the
break is very serious the engineers of the
water department think it can be patched
up so that it will carry water enough
to prevent famine One of
the mains of the Long Island
Supply Company that runs into the eastern
and main of the Union Gas Company was
also broken. This last accident left Wood
haven without gas tonight The men knew
that the trench was in dangerous condi-
tion. One of them noticed Yesterday that
the plank sheeting on the side next the con-
duit had been forced out and as he
stood in the trench one of
the cross timbers that ran along the
bottom of the sheeting broke, as if under a
heavy strain. He replaced it with a new
brace, and thought that he had left every
thing secure for the pipe men, who were to
follow. When the men returned to work
aver uInHef LO-udV q seCLlOu Ol pipe was
rolled down the east bank to the platform
of the steam derrick directly over the
trench. The dirt on the west bank was
piled Is feet above the level of the ground,
and half dozen men were shoveling away
to one side to prevent it from sliding back
into the trench.
The Cave-in Came without Warning.
Without any warning this west bank
caved in, carrying with it the men who
were working on the upper part of the
sheeting, and several of the shovelers.
Foreman Redding was knocked from the
cross brace and rolled over into the trench.
For a moment he was unconscio Gus, and
then he felt someone pulling him out of the
trench. He was rescued. A dozen other
men were rolled into the trench with him,
but all but four were rescued Redding saw
Hugh Murphy, a derrick man, hanging
across brace, with his head and heels
down, but before anything could be done to
save him he was buried under 20 feet of
sand. Phil Soloon, Joseph Cosine and
another Italian were also buried with him.
Further up the trench, and away from the
unconscious and half buried by the dust
F. L. Crawford, a son of one of the con-
tractors, collected as many Italians as he
could, and went to the rescue of the buried
men. Four men were dug out and brought
up to the bank. In addition to their bruises
they were suffering from gas poisoning.
1t is supposed that either the Long Is
land Water Supply Company's pipe burst
and undermined the plank sheeting, or that
the brick conduit, which was full of holes,
gave way under the heavy weight, and
that the water from the leak completed the
ruin.