The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1893-08-03
BURIED FOR A WHOLE DAv

Sensations Of a Man Under a Bur-
den OF Sand and Timbers.
The funeral of Joseph Nelson took
place in Oakland last week, and when
the coffin was lowered into the grave
he was buried for the second time.
The first burial was twenty-seven years
ago, when he was entombed alive at the
capture and explosion Of Fort Fisher.
when he was buried in the debris fol.
thirty-six hours before he was found,
and then he was dug u for dead.
Joseph Nelson wa then Il lad Of twen-
ty-one, a volunteer in Company r. of
the Sixteenth New York regiment, and
attached to Gen. Benjamin +. Buffers
division. He was at the storming of
Fort Fisher under Gen. Ames. with a
fleet under the command Of Admiral
Porter. Fort Fisher was captured, and
When 1t was evacuated by the Con-
Iederates the magazine was fired, and
When the Union forces took possession
the fort was blown into the air and the
MO troops with it. MI. Nelson was
"SNAANNA AttA ASCC uAuCI lllCrIUluS., ana ;
1t was thirty-six hours before he was
found.
He was paralyzed from the burial.
and became a sufferer from sciatic rheu-
matism for his entire life from the
effects of the shock and exposure. He
neyer recovered, but was for a. time
able to perform the duties of conductor
on a light run on the Southern Pacific
! railroad.
Mr.: Nelson was not always willing to
tell Of his unusual experience Of being
buried alive for such a length Of time.
He was very graphic in his account.
however, and this iJ me way he told
it shortly before his death: .
1T all seems like a nightmare. or the
things n fancies while in a fever.
Fort Fisher seemed to be OH top Of me
with all the guns directed at me. I
could neither 0 speak. Slowly
l began to grow cold, so cold and numb
that l began to wonder if I were dead.
1t began at my feet and creDt up
through my limbs and up my body I'M
TIL it almost seemed to clutch at nv
heart. ! thought that it was death it.
sef-but I could hear noise. 1t was
very human noise. and sounds that told
me only too plainly that I was still
alive--the cries of the dying and wound
ed from the battle and explosion. They
We're over. me and around me-cries
that made my already chilled body
colder. l could hear them everywhere,
1t seemed to me, the cries of those
in greater pain than I, for they were
wounded and mangled, while II was
only cold.
Il was buried up to my shoulders i'll
the heavy sand of the breastworks,
but my head was free. Over it. some
timbers and rocks had become crossed
and jammed, and they had formed a
roof over my head. This I did not
know at the time. I could only feel the
terrible cold that benumbed me, for
the pressure of the sand around my
body drove the blood back to. my heart
and left me, without feeling. I could
not move, my arms were buried in the
sand and I wa absolutely mnioned.
| could breathe, and that was all. Then
there came a great pain in my head.
It seemed as if it would burst and
still | could do nothing. I was helpless,
l hardly knew whether l was alive or
not. Twas conscious. for [ could hear
the cries of the wounded, but that was
all / knew save / could not move and
that I was cold.
THE fort blew up at Z O'clock in the
morning, and it wa the following day
before ! was found and dug out, and
all that time / was; conscious, but help
less
When Mr.. Nelson was found he was
taken to the hospital at Wilmington,
n. c.. but he " fully recovered
from the injury to his spine, and dur
4 iy1or tho O1,n1 for. no 1.f Of hts 1ifo v.11 1-n1 q
on clutches. His wife died before he
did. and he left a son and a daughter.
San Francisco Examiner.
They Coulln.t stand 1t.
StraWber-I see you got into trouble
at Nalragsansett Pier the other day.
Singerly-Yes:: I came near being ar
rested.