St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-08-20

H. S, Wacks, at the corner Of Four
feenth and Spruce. Nearly al the
pipe had been put down. The men
were at work laying the last tile,
in fact, Kinney was down i'll
the bottom of the trench, laying
the pipe. Bridgman, i'll his official ca
pacity as inspector, was superlntend-
ing the work. He was sitting on one OF
the crosSpieces that hold the sheathing
in place and bending down to watch
Kinney. Without the slightest warning
the sewer caved. No one knows just
how it came about. The crosspieces or
braces became displaced i'll some way,
and the sheathing came together at the
top. Bridgmau's head and shoulders
were caught between the timberS. He
didn't breathe more than twice after the
timberS caught him. Kinney, who was
in the bottom of the trench, was pro-
tected by the timbers coming together
above his head. The riffs in the sheath
ing, caused by the displacement. al
lowed the sand to run in and plniOn his
feet. What killed Bridgman saved
Kinney.
The eave-in occurred few minutes
after o'clock. A fire alarm was turned
in and the department called out to
work for the rescue of the imprisoned
men. As soon as Chief Runge arrived
he turned in a call for the patrol wagon.
1t was the work of but few minutes TO
liberate the now lifeleSS body of Bridg-
man and take it to Connolly's m0rgue.
All the firemen turned in to shovel out
the other man. 1t was slow work. He
was down in the bottom of the trench,
where not more than one man cOul1
work at a time. 1t was 4 o'clock before
he was raised to the surface. Kinney
was all right save for the cramps con-
tracted during the two hours spent IN
the bottom OF a sewer with sand piled
around his legs up TO his waist.
Kenney couldn't tell a thing about
how it all happened. All he knew was
that the sheathing came together above
his head and that the sand ran in about
his legs until he couldn't move. Mike
Fleming had just vacated the place Oc-
cupied by Bridgman when the sheath
ing gave way. He was caught by the
hips and squeezed pretty tightly, but
not injured. He was as much in the
dark about how it occurred as any one.
So was Mike Quinn, who was on the
ground preparing the cement. Some
people thought that the Sheathing had
not been driven down far enough, and
that it gave way first at the bottom,
thus displacing the braces and allowing
the top Of the Sheathing to be crushed
in. 1t is not clear how that could have
occurred. Had it been SO the timOerS
must have caught Kenney, whereas
nothing but the sand fell around him.
The soil in which the trench was dug
was very loose, and the great weight of
the sides must have forced the braces
out of place. Perhaps they were not
securely inserted. Anyhow, the sewer
caved. That is all any one seems to
know about it.
Bridgman's skull was fractured.
When he was taken out the blood was
running from his ears. He was caught
between the top StringerS of the she ath-
ing. He was also somewhat crushed
man of sixty and had worked for the
sewer department for eight years.
When the sewer work was done by con-
tract he was inspector of main lines.
For the last six years he had been III
charge of the connections with private
houses. He lived at 1916 Third avenue
south. He had no family other than
wife. She has been an invalid for sew
eral years. and it is feared that the
shock of her husbands death may en-
danger her life. Kenney lived at 1853
Central avenue.
1t is not probable that any inquest
will be held. 1t was clearly a case of
accident. Had Bridgman supposed
that all was not right ne never would
have gone down into the trench. He
had the reputation of being very care
full man. He was so careful that sewer
fOremen called him crank.