Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-02-14
SUNK IN A SWAMP.
A Chicago Man Gets in Up to Els
Neck in the. Worlds Fair Town.
HIS VOICE BROUGHT RESCUERS.
Police officers Almost Sink in the Efforts to
Pull him Out.
THE VICTIM HAD DINED TCO WE'LL

THE VICTIM HAD DINED TCO WE'LL
CHICAGO. Feb. 13-Archer C. Cracraft,
! Superintendent of the Fidelity and Casualty
Company, attired in evening dress, last
night sat down with party of friends to
sumptuous repast. An hour before mid
night belated pedestrian, walking along
the nickel Plate" Railroad ties in that
| gloomy waste of Thirty-third ward terri
| tory south of Eighteenth street heard a
cry of "Help" coming from the swamp
to the eastward of the tracks. Five hours
| later, and after four hours of hard work, in
which the lives of three police officers and
two citizens were in constant jeopardy, Mr..
| Cracraft was dragged from the quagmire
into which he had sunk until only his head
and one arm remained above the yielding
! earth
The scene of Mr.. Cracraft's adventure is
morass into which man seldom ventures.
i So treacherous is it that cows and horses
have, in the wet season. failed to reappedr
from its gloomy interior. How Mr.. Cra-
craft wandered into the very center of the
himself does not know.
A Cry From q Human Throat
Through the mud and rain and sleet, John
Raynoe, laboring man, trudged along and
there camefaintly but distinctly to his ear
cry that made his hair stand on end. 1t
was a shrek of distress, and the
word sent flying on the gale was
"Help!' 1t turned Raynoe into statue,
and not until the cry was borne
to his ears three or four times did he regain
the use of tongue and limbs. "Help"
"Help" Raynoe sent an answering shout
and there came back again that cry for
"help." Superstition seized him and off he
darted down the roadbed toward the
Nickel Plate" shops at Ninety third street,
pursued by the shout OF distress 1t
was nearly three-fourths of a mile from the
point where he first heard the yell to
Ninety-third street at Proudy's saloon He
told Mr.. Proudly of the cries he had heard
and notified the police. The patrol wagon,
| in charge of Officer Timothy RYAN and
manned by Officers Murphy and Burk-
hardt, was soon plunging over the route.
The Police to the Rescue.
Not sound came from the gloomy morass
| The officers kept going on until Ninety
third street was reached, and then two
| young men, named Donnell and Farrell,
agreed to go down the tracks while the Off
| GERS drove back. Itwas further agreed that
should the men hear cry they would signal
the officers by building fire directly oppo-
| site the point from which it came.
When within about 100 yards of Eightieth
street Donnell stopped his companion with
| the whispered exclamation, 81 heard it. -
They both stood still and waited. By and
by faint cry of 'help" reached their ears.
A lusty shout from both their throats went
rolling back into the inky night, and mo-
ment later the bright glare of the signal fire
told the officers across the swamp that the
| object of their search had heen located.
With but little trouble, except that with
each five yards covered they sank deeper
into the mire, the rescuing quartet ira
versed the first 100 yards toward the spot
from which came the feeble cries for'succor.
At this point, Just as the fire behind them
blazed up brightly, they caught glimpse
of white face and staring eyes Besides a
hand graspiJg stunted tree it was all
that showed above the surface of the
treacherous ground The man had sunk to
his chin in the bog.
The Rescuers Almost Went Down.
The officers were fully 100 feet fSom him
when they caught the first look of his pain
tortured face. They shouted to the man at
the fire to pile on the waste and to the al
most buried-alive man to keep up his
courage, and continued to advance. When
within so feet of the unfortunate Cracraft
they sank so far into the yielding slush
that they were forced to retrace to safer
ground. They found it to be abso-
1utely necessary to keep moving. If
they stopped but for an instant they sank
rapidly Two of the party secured some
boards and rails from the side of the rail-
road track and dragged them out into the
slough. From the point where they had
previously been forced to retire they laid
the boards toward the sunken Cracraft
and after q deal of hard work Ryan
and Farrell succeeded in reaching their
man.
They showed their hands down under his
arm-pits and exerted all their strength to
pull him out They could not move him an
inch. They called to the other two and then
began a remarkable struggle. The combined
weight of the four rescuers on the boards
caused them to sink into the black and foul
smelling morass. Cracraft had released his
grip upon the shrub and every time the
officers and Farrell let go of him he sank an
inch or more deeper.
Freed From Deaths Embrace.
They foundered about in the awful quag-
mire, not only trying to save themselves,
but trying to keep Mr.. Cracraft from sink
ing still farther. Finally more boards ar
rived, and by mighty effort, in which the
combined strength of five brawny men was
strained. Mr.. Cracraft was pulled out. 1t
was queer looking object that was car
ried into the squad room. 1t seemed to
Sergeant Hastings that his officers were |
bringing in chunk of frozen mud six feet |
long BY two feet wide and two feet high.
When the overcoat was thrown open the |
officers found huge boquet of roses-so |
large in fact that it covered nearly the whole |
expanse of shirt front. Mr.. Cracraft re-
gained consciousness shortly after being |
brought into the station and was given a |
huge horn of brandy. Soon after taking |
this he announced himself ready to go home |
and was driven to his residence. 6402 |
Myrtle avenue. Mr.. Cracratt had dined so |
sumptuously that his exposure had no i'll |
effects and he is around now as usual.