The Washington herald., 1910-01-08

Three months would have been hardly
enough time for the Job.
Building Department Inspector Reville's
iaborers had been cropping for the man for
twenty-six hours. 1t was almost certain
that he was there, overwhelmed by his
own labors. but there was a bare chance
that he might have been on the right
side Of the cavern and have run away
to avoid explanations. Then. too, the
curious divergence Of the tunnel from
It's assumed course bothered the diggers
Make Another Start.
The first shaft they sank missed FinkeI.
STEMS cave altogether. so they had TO
start another this morning. They opened
up the street little TO the south of the
first shaft and away from the direct line
to Zirinsky's that Finkelstein, appar-
emily, had laid out 1t was cold, hard
days work with nothing 10 show for il
but two enormous piles Of sand and stone
until evening.
little before O'Clock the light was
faint between the tenements in Ludlow
street It was pitch dark down in the
hole where the building department men
were steadily shoveling. Revtlle. the
boss, ierked a thumb toward a gasoline
flare that was burning from the top OF
a snoring wall Of the old shaft, and a
man In jeans switched the flare over 20
the edge of the new well. A gust of wind
caught the flame. and drove il across the
shaft top, lighting clearly the bottom Of
the deep hole.
You could see the inside of the plank
walls that buttressed the tunnel as
clearly as II an arc light had been swung
into the hole: the sweat standing out on
the foreheads OF the dIsgers, the splnters
Of chopped boards, and the shovel marks
on the floor OF the pit one Of the
laborers jabbed with his shovel He saw
something else. and mOtioned for Reville
to lean over the edge OF the shaft. The
boss took a sharp look and hurried away
TO phone the coroner.
Tried to Turn Back.
The shovel hac uncovered Finkelstein's
right foot, clad in a rubber boot. II could
be seen then just what position the man
had been IN when he died. His body Jay
In the direction Ludlow street takes
north and south. with his head to the
south Later, when the body was fully
uncovered. it was apparent that he had
tried to squirm around and fight his way
through the sand that blocked the tunnel
behind him.
There had been crowd in Grand
street al the head OF Ludlow. for many
hours. and Capt. Days men from the
Eldridge street station had been hard put
10 it TO give the workers elbow room.
Reyille's laborers in the pit worked for
an hour TO free Finkelstein's body. but
they saw It couldn't be done without
digging another shaft little 20 the south
ward. The bottom OF the heavy planking
that showed up the south side OF the shaft
they were in was almost directly over the
middle Of the mans body
If they had removed the planking there
would have been q cavern that would
have rel,uried the body and made work
for another day or two. So they climbed
out of the shaft and set dOggedly TO work
tearing up the street for a third pit They
had to drill holes in the four-inch asphalt
covering, pry loose great chunks Of
asphalt until a space 0f ten feet square
was uncovered TO the close-packed earth, |
attack with plckaxes until the looser sand
was reached. and then shovel
Body Is Recovered.
Il was upward OF midnight before the
body was entirely freed and could be
lifted out OF the hole From the second
floor Of the tenement at No. 52 F1nkel-
STEMS wife and children looked out of
the windows, now and then trying 20
see what was going on down under the
whirling fare Of light
Finkelsteins body was not where it
was expected 10 be- His tunnel. after
reaching a point near the middle
Of the street turned southwark, to no.
where in particular. and deviated from
the line It is supposed he laid out toward
the rear Of Zirinsky's jeweIry store, at
the southeast corner OF Grand and Lud-
low streets. That is the reason the Ia
borers missed finding it when they sunk
the first shaft
Finkelstein, toiling eleven feet under
the surface Of the street. lighted by
candle only. had lost his bearings. II
may have been that the man thought he
was working steadily east by north. |
when really. after he had progressed
about twenty feet, he lost his sense Of
direction and dug east by south. There
was q difference OF about thirty degrees |
between the original line OF the tunnel |
and the fanFent that FvinLyeIsteF, Lod