The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-02-13
FIREMAN. RESCUE A MARVEL
Seufert Entombed 80 Hours Un-
der Debris in New York.
His Story Of the Imprisonment-Wife
Had Arranged For His Funeral
Comrades Thought Him Dead.

New York City.-After having
been buried for thirty hours in the
ruins of the burned warehouse at
No. C2 Roosevelt street, covered with
tons of debris, Fireman John G.
! Seufert, of Engine Company No. 80,
was rescued, alive and practically un-
injured.
Seufert's rescue was a dramatic af-
fair. He was not discovered until
| almost twenty-four hours after he
had been given up for dead. When
he attracted attention by tapping on
the beam that held him down, scores
Of firemen Immediately started to
dig toward him.
A twelve-foot rubber tube was
worked through the debris to Seufert
! and communication established with
him. Whisky and coffee were poured
| down the tube to the imprisoned man,
and oxygen was also pumped through
the tube.
BY mean of the tube Seufert re-
ceived dissolution from Father Smith,
the Fire Department chaplain, and
afterward he joked with his rescuers,
/ who cheered and encouraged him.
At lao o'clock a. m, it was an
nounced that Seufert had leen
reached. The mar was in a kneeling
posture, with his head bent forward.
A beam lay across his legs, while a
large piece of board rested against
the back of his neck. Behind this
board lay tons of debris, and all the
time the fremen were working they
feared Senfert might be killed by a
sudden slide. But they worked with
such extreme care that at the last
/ they were removing the burnt ma
! terial in handfuls only.
At the Hudson Street Hospital, to
which Seufert vas removed, 1t was
announced that he was gradually i'm
proving and growing stronger. His
leg is crushed below the knee and his
body is stiff and sore, owing to the
cramped position in which he vas
held for thirty hours.
After ~rescuing Seufert from the
i ruins, the searchers r%edoubled their
efforts to find Daniel J. Campbell,
who was also carried down into the
mass Of water-soaked paper and de-
bris with Seufert and Lennon. Camp
bells body "a recovered shortly
before 2 o'clock p. m.
Lemons body was recovered soon
after the fire, and not a man on duty
at the ruins thought Seufert was
alive until a fireman heard a faint
tapping beneath his feet. A few
minutes later a cry came from the
11JIo- o;1N orI fhn cnnrohorc HOGAN
to dig. The hour was about $50
o'clock. Seufert's companions worked
desperately, but carefully, until tneI
reached their man, seven hours later.
Battalion Chief O'Connor was the
only person permitted to see Seufert
in the hospital.
II was at work on the third floor
! Of the building" Seufert told O'Con.
! nor, when I heard three crashes. I
| started to jump from the window cas-
| ing and found somebody else there
| ahead of me. Then I heard another
crash. Two bales came down. 1 was
caught between them and carried
down three stories.
"When I first struck bottom I be-
| gan to yell. Then became so hoarse
that 1 couldn't speak. 1 wanted to
sing to keep up my spirits, but my
voice failed me. I could hear the
men chopping and pounding, but I
wasn't sure whether they would hear
me. Then I began to beat against
a wooden box 1 found beside me
The bales of paper between which I
fell from the third story, pressed
against my head so closely that If 1t
had not been for my helmet, l think
I would have been killed.
During the early hours Of my i'm
prisonment I thought I was near
death. At one time I thought that l
was about to be burned alive by a
pile Of blazing paper that fell beside
me. What I remember chiefly was a
feeling Of cold and great darkness.
| Then 1 began to hear the men work.
| ing overhead. The noise Of their
| pounding became mor distinct.
Finally, as it became louder and I
was unable to shout to them, l be-
gan to beat on the box with the sticks
that Providence seemed to have
\ placed there for me-"
Seufert sat up in bed when his
wife was admitted to see him shortly
before the noon hour, and a little
while later took with relish a huge
bowl of soup. Now and then he
paused and, looking from the face of
his wife to that of his sister-in-law,
who was admitted a few minutes az
ter Mrs. Seufert, said:
"Why do you look at me like that?
One would think you were looking at
a ghost. I am not dead yeti"
Mrs. Seufert told how she had
made all arrangements for the fun
eral-how she had engaged the ser
vices of an undertaken, laid out the
life insurance policy and even pur-
chased the grave clothes. The res
cued man merely laughed.
Two days Of rest in the hospital
will see Seufert out again just in
time to be present at what his friends
call a racket" which they are pre-
pairing for him.