Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-01-16
BURIED BY A SAND SLIDE.
Saving Mans Life Who Was Pinned in the
IreacherOus Stuff

Saving u Sudn y Lie w no w as Pinned In the
Treacherous Stuff.
From the Cape Cod Independent
While gang of men from Sandwich we're at
work on Chamberlain Sons cranberry bog
recently one of the men, James Dalton, shovel
ing in sand pit was thrown and buried to his
shoulders by a sand slide on a face of sand some
thirty feet high. In spite of very exact and
emphatic warnings tile man was standing with
his back to the bank and his barrow between
him and the exit The falling sand buried the
barrow and the mans right leg was bound fast
over the left handle. The other bog hands ran
to the rescue, but aside from uncovering the
barrow and delivering the mans right leg.
could not move him an inch. The danger was
that more sand might slide and bury its victim
alive. for there We're already cracks in the sand
visible and one or two huge boulders which
might come down any moment. The boulders
had just been disclosed by the sand slide
1t was soon apparent that without more and
visor help the man would certainly perish by
exhaustion or be smOthered. The neighbors
were aroused and. with that alacrity to help a
perishlng man SO creditablc and so common to
Cape Cod folks. they were soon on hand Mean
while the sand assures above had widened and
with the pine trees on mass of earth weighing
tons the pit face might fall any moment. The
man meanwhile was low down, almost on his
face, and, as it seemed, immovable. Among
the newcomers was Daniel Lee of the Beach
who afterward said he had once seen a man
hurled III "a we'll, and by common consent. as
the only man who dared to have q plan where
an error might cost the trapped man his life
and perhaps the lives OF others. he was allowed
to direct.
First of all he called for a long plank One
was brought from the bog and carefully placed
some three or four feet above the man, below
and between him and the sand face and &C ross
the sand bank. Then he ordered planks to be
sawed some five feet long and these to be
placed upright inside the horizontal plank and
facing in and toward the bank, and a man to
hold each plank steady and to stand to it if
another slide came. He then ordered short
oak and pine limbs to be cut and put in the
sand above the upright line Of planks. to catch
and stop the sand which momentarily was sift-
ing down. The whole structure was then
braced at each end by joist and plank. and
served as q rude sort Of shield. Then, with the
men holding the planks. the others tried to dig
the man out. His left foot and lower trunk
seemed held as in a wise. shovelfui of sand
taken out seemed instantly replaced. by the
sand sitting down from the hill. Hands were
then used instead of shovels, and some stones
under him removed.
But it was slow, hideous work tor the strong
est nerved. And now came the crisis. The
rifted earth bank above. with the pine trees
on it, was moving-was sliding down. A shout
OF the terrible drift of earth-a second shout
and the deadly mass stood still The plank
barrier SO far had saved. But the man in peril
had now been some four hours in q situation
the peril Of which he knew, not expecting. as
he afterward told 1.-THE boys" but that he was
to be carried home in a box, and, though bear
ing up bravely, was very much exhausted. He
must be released speedily or perish. OF all
traps sand, under such conditions, is the most
relentless we ever set eyes upon. Every at
tempt to pull the man out failed
A new way was suggested by DIR. David Ellis
strong rope from one of the bog screens was
brought A stray woman's shawl, left by some
cranberry picker on the bog, was found and
used to muffe the sharpness Of the rope against
the mans flesh in hauling. the rope was fas.
tened tight under the shoulders. and then. as
God willed, with strong men assisting and the
others holding at the plank barrier, and the
sand hill settling down every moment, the man
was pulled out of his sand grave-not a bone
broken, not n scratch! He even brought his
shoes out with him. Stimulants We're given
him. the leg was well rubbcdand bathed, be WAS
laid on stretcher, carefully covered by mems
coats, and in this fashion carried to neighbor's
house and cared for. In the afternoon he walked
back half mile to the bog to see the other
men at work and won't down to Sandwich in
the evening train. The place where the man
lay four hours in peril was the next day COW
cred with four feet Of sand.