New-York tribune., 1909-10-04
500 DIG TO SAVE MAN
WELL DIGGER BURIED 90
FEET BELOW SURFACE.
Father, Calling Son to Breakfast,
Hears Fall of Beams and
Thud of Sand.

Sayvle, Long Island Oct. 3-John Gotten.
twenty-five years old, son of a farmer living
two miles north of Central Islip. lies beneath
sixty feet of ground tonight. while more than
five hundred men, working in shifts of two are
trying to rescue him from his perilous position.
The spot where the son lies buried is on his
fathers farnt where well was being sunk by
the two men. 1t is not expected that the
cmng party will be able to reach Coffen before
tomorrow morning. and his chances for being
brought forth alive regarded as almost hope
less.
Father and son started to sink the well about
a year ago. and recently began TO dig the hole
thirty feet deeper than they had done last sum
mer In doing this work the men were baffled by
the nature of the soil. which was composed large
ly of soft shifting sand, and on this account they
were forced to make use of wooden braces. which
they inserted as the work progressed. Ccffer and
his father took turns at the work of eXcavating,
first one working at the bottom of the we'll and
then the other. while one always remained at the
top to hoist the sand as 1t was taken out
While the sheathing of boards only tenn
porary. it was strongly braced and it
thought to be sufficiently secure to prevent the
sand falling inS 1t intended to sink pipe
into the ground and it joined, section by
section fill in the dirt around it until the top
was reached.
WELL ALMOST COMPLETED.
At the time of the accident to-day the men
had struck a steady flowing stream of water
and commenced TO attach the piping, the son
doing the work. while the father waited at the
top After working for more than three hours
the younger had succeeded in joining more
than thirty feet of the pipe and reached point
just below the sixty foot level. On more than
one occasion the father had called down to the
son. offering to relieve him, owing to the diff
culties of the work, but each time young Coffen
had refused, saying that he could accomplish
the thing unaided.
1t was shortly before O'Clock this morning
that the senior Gotten called to his son to come
TO the surface, as it was breakfast time and his
mother waiting in the house for them.
From far down in the bowels of the earth the
old man could hear the voice of his son. as he
answered in CHEEKY voice that he would be up
Immediately. The next instant the father
heard a sound of crashing timbers. then the
sound of sand it poured. in an irresistible
stream into the excavation below
Breathlessly the old man waited at the
trance to the yawning cavity at his feet He
strained his ears to catch some word from his
son. but only the sound of the sandy stream as
it buried his son beneath tons of weight
reached his hearing. Peering down into the
blackness of the hole the father tried to catch
a glimpse of young Gotten. hut his gaze Tnet
nothing but the shifting. falling sand 1t was
then that the older man became filed with a
hopeless grief. Standing at the entrance to his
sons tomb he ran about as demented. cry
ing loudly for help.
FATHERS CRIES BRING HELP.
Within very few minutes men from the
neighboring farms responded TO the call for as
sistance and started in on the work of rescue
At first attempts were made to stop the sand
from filling the excavation, but this found
TO he useless and other measures were sought
No word to be had from the imprisoned
man, and it not known whether he was still
alive The men worked with feverish energy
in this almost hopeless battle for a human life
and nothing was heard but the low voices of the
workers as they gave orders and the scrapng
sound of shovel and pickaxe as the work of ex-
cavation went
When we'll diggers reached the place It was
decided that the only way in which Coffen could
be reached was by digging another shaft along
side the we'll in which he was entombed. and it
is calculated that this will require at least an
other twenty four hours. because of the limited
number of men who work at time
Foremost among the workers were the father
and mother of the man who lay sixty feet below
ground. Ihe knowledge that their son might
still be alive spurred them to almost super
human efforts. and they were everywhere among
the men, exhortng them TO strive their hardest
Constable Schwartz, of Central Islip. took
charge of the work of rescue. and it was under
his direction that the five hundred men worked
The digging was still going at a late hour
tonight, the men being aided by lanterns and
torches but owing TO the dangerous nature of
the work their progress is slow.
During the evening a big bonfire built
near the scene of the rescue work. TO light the
operations and warm coffee for the workers.