Los Angeles herald., 1907-04-14
IS BURIED ALIVE
FOR TWO HOURS
SLENDER TIMBERS SAVE LIFE
OF LABoRER
Taken from Living Tomb Under Mass
Of Debris with Conclusion of
the Brain, but Victim
VIII Not Die

After lying for two hours beneath
tons of sand and brick, with nothing
between him and death but two narrow
strips Of oregon pine, John Arbello was
rescued by fellow laborers yesterday
afternoon and now lies at his home on
Utah street, seriously but not fatally
injured.
Arbello's escape from death was
nothing short of marvellous. In danger
and zeal displayed by fellow workmen
to rescue him 1t rivaled the Hicks af-
fair, and, although the man was buried
for but two hours, his companions who
FASTENED to his rescue worked with
such energy that many Of them dropped
the shovels they were using and fell
exhausted by the roadside.
In company with gang of workmen
Arbello was employed digging a sewer
at Fourth street and Central avenue at
4:30 o'clock yesterday afternoon. The
trench in which the man was working
was about ten feet deep and nearly
three feet wide.
During the noon hour Arbello had
placed two small boards of oregon pine
in such a manner as to form seat in
the trench. They were raised from the
ground about one foot and were sepa-
rated by about six inches. On it he
sat as he ate his lunch during the noon
as his saviour few short hours later.
Buried by Landslide
About 4:30 o'clock Arbello was work.
ing a few feet from the bench, tossing
sand to a platform just below the street
level. Suddenly, without the least
warning, tons of dirt, asphalt and brick
slid from the side of the trench, knock
ing the workman to the bottom and
burying him beneath it's weight.
Startled by the sound of the falling
dirt, workmen employed in other parts
of the trench rushed to the scene, only
to be met with the announcement that
Arbello was buried beneath the sand.
Eager hands grasped shovels and work.
men, worn and tired from their days
labors, sprang into the ditch to aid in
finding the body of their companion,
whom they all supposed had been suffo-
Gated beneath the mass Of dirt.
Think Him Dead
HE must have been killed instantly"
they whispered to each other, but even
as they did so they worked faster and
faster, each striving to outdo the other
and be the first to reach their comrade.
After more than an hours furious
digging spectators who had gathered
to watch the men at the work of res
cue we're startled to hear a wild yell
ringing from the trench, and could
scarcely believe their ears to hear a
cry, "He lives, he lives!" from the
workmen.
For thirty minutes longer the work.
men dug, and then joyous shout went
up and Arbello's unconscious body was
lifted from the trench.
The injured man was at once hurried
to hospital, where 1t was found that
he was suffering from a conclusion of
the brain and slight internal injuries,
but the physicians expressed hopes Of
saving his life, and now say If no unex-
pected complications set in the man
will probably live.
According to the workmen who
brought Arbellos body to the surface,
the two boards were all that stood be-
tween him and death. He had been
knocked beneath them in such a man
ner that they protected his face and
upper portions of his body from the
falling dirt, which covered his legs and
the lower portion of his body.
How the man received air during his
confinement is a mystery, but it is
thought sufficient reached him on ac-
count of bricks which filed the space
between the boards and the street sur
face
About an hour after being released
Arbello recovered sufficiently to ask If
any one else had been injured and when
told that he alone had suffered he fell
into peaceful doze from which the
physicians feared to waken him.