Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-10-04
MUST GO DOWN SIXTY FEET
Little Chance That John Gotten Still
Lives.
NEW HOLE IS BEING SUNK
When the Proper Depth Is Reached,
Horizontal Tunnel Will
Be Made.

NEW YORK. October ALI night long
relays of men were engaged in the work
of sinking a new shaft alongside of the
well at the bottom of which lies John
Coffen. the young farmer who was hurled
by a cavern while deepening the well
on his fathers farm. two miles north OF
Central Islip L. l.. yesterday morning.
Although there is a possibility that the
cross beams at the bottom of the
well may have formed an air
chamber in which Coffen might live
for a short time. there is not believed
to be more than one chance in thousand
that he could keep alive until the men
now at work can reach him. He Is more
than sixty feet from the surface. and
there are thirty feet of sand and clay
on top of him.
Constable Schwartz. who has charge OF
the men at work, said today that it might
be three or four days before Conen could
be reached. and that, in his opinion. there
was not the slightest chance or nnolne
him alive.
The plan is to sink shaft down to
where Coffen lies, and then dig passage
across to the old well. The lumber need
ed to wall the shaft did not arrive until
late last night. so that the work was
not really begun until then.
The slide took place in an old shaf,
which had been sunk thirty feet by q
former owner of the farm. He shoreo
ii up with boards and cross-braces. When
the Coffens, father and son. started to GO
deeper early in the summer, the old mole
seemed well protected. They dug do"n
thirty feet more, snoring and bracing all
the way. Finding no water at sixty feet
they put off the completion of the job un-
Til after the crops were In. A fortnight
ago they resumed 1t and, at ninety feet
struck water.
Buried Alive.
Their plan was to make a pipe we'll
planting the lower pipe section In the
water and Withdrawing the snoring and
braces as they added new sections of pipe
the way up. By this means the earth
would fall in around the pipe and tncase
it snugly from the water level to the sur
face where suction pump was to be
placed.
Early yesterday morning father and
son. the latter twenty-five years old. be-
gan to put in the piping. the son going
below and the father remaining at the
surface to pass down the pipe sections az
needed. Work went on rapidly after the
bottom section had been fixed In firm
foundation. Between and $3.50 O'Clock
the father passed down three sections
which accounted for thirty feet OF prog
ress by the son below. In that time he
ha1 made two JOlnt5 ana let tne edrtH III
around them.
Coffen, the elder. waited for the next
call for more pipe until O'Clock. when
he looked over into the well to learn why
the work had slowed down. There was
a clear orifice for thirty feet Beyond
that the we'll looked as If it had never
been dug. If the pack was solid the boy
was under thirty feet of sand and clay.
Neighbors Flock to the Well.
coYe, r., 20 +ba noora.t nayvhhor,e foy
help The alarm soon spread. bringing
farmers from all over that district and
people from the village. Examination
showed that the snoring and braces had
given way at about the point where the
former owner of the farm had abandoned
work. II appeared also that when this
support was removed the upper safeguards
We're no longer firm enough to assure safe
descent.