The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-08-10

bottom of well forty five feet
deep.
AS if by a miracle he escaped alive.
For the stones that first fell on him,
while they severely bruised and cut
and pinioned him to the side of the
well, formed an arch directly over his
head. ~
A larger stone than. the rest was the
Keystone of the arch, of which one of
Chitwood's arms, caught above his
head, formed part. So
The arch remaining firm protected
him from the mass of debris above
him, whose weight would otherwise
have surely crushed his s body into
pulp.
Thus for day, from a. m. July 10
last, to- 1855 a. M, July IL, for twenty
four hours that seemed to him an eter-
nifty; Chittwood, who is a we'll digger.
was inhumed.
He was not smothered, because
enough air to keep him valiveS descend
ed along the course of the rope by
which he went down-through the
cracks in the earth and rocks loosely
packed around the rope.
@ His Desperate Vow. 4.A
He did not lose consciousness, and
he prayed God to save him, and made
a vow never to clean or dig another
we'll. Indeed, he kept his wits about
him until almost the final moment of
his rescue, for he directed the man who
went to his aid how to proceed that
the arch that had proved his salvation
might not be destroyed.
Chittwoed, whose nickname is bud
Ike, went to, Lane TOWnsend's home
at Mahalasville, Brown county, early
on Thursday, July 10, and offered to
clean ToWnsend's old we'll for rs cents.
Townsend told bud Ike" it was risky
job; that the well was unsafe. Town
sends father, dug it forty years ago,
though still fun of quicksand. After
ward the walls sank, and steel cylin
der casing was dropped into the bot
tom of the well to arrest the rising of
the quicksalld and the sinking of the
walls.
But Chettwood, who has had many
narrow escapes from death in his dan
gerouS occupation, offered not only to
clean but to repair the well for rs
cents. Townsend accepted. He stood
at the Wells curb and slowly turned
the Windlass, letting down the big
bucket, which Chittwood was to fill
with the stuff that choked the well.
Chittwood grabbed the three-quar-
ter inch rope, and, holding it with one
hand above his head, cautiously de-
scended step by STEP supporting most
of his weight on his toes, which he
slipped into the many cracks in the
stone wall. The ll-digger as he
went down passed his free hand over
the stone wall and carefully examined
it's condition.
He hand descended within ten feet
of the bottom when Townsend called
down to him: qA g.. go.
rs everything all right?''
Everything all
Those were the last words heard
e., MI
foot had displaced a stone in the shalzy
wall. Before heucould finish his SEN
tence the walls caved in, and forty
wagon loads of rock and earth thunder
ed down on him.
Remarkable to say, the ten feet of
wall nearest the wells mouth remain
ed intact, but sank ten feet,~its bottom
touching the top of the pile of debris
that covered Chittwood twenty-nine
feet below.
Townsend, certain that Bud Ike"
had been crushed to death, hurried to
the reighbors, and begged them to help
him disinter the Well-digger's body.
They refused, because they feared the
quicksand, and dreaded that what
was left of the wall and more earth
would cave in. Townsend jumped on
a horse and rode to Martinsville, six
miles away, but returned without find
ing any one willing to undertake the
perilous rescue. Finding his neighbors
in the same mood, Townsend again
rode to Martinsville, and paid Joseph
r. Prather $125 to bring up Chittwood's
body. At q. m. on Thursday Pra-
Their had his big derrick in place over
the wells mouth, and, with much
other equipment, he began to remove
the mass of fallen material.
Meanwhile a great crowd had gath
cred, for ChittWood is known all over
Brown county, and had been digging
wells since ne was old enough to work.
Darkness fell, and the work proceed
ed by the light of lanterns and torches.
Midnight came, Prather, who had to