Year: 1876




The Utica Herald, of June 6, has a
letter from Rome, Oneida county, which
says; Martin Bellman was buried in
well at 80 A. NJ. Sunday, and not res.
cued until s A. NJ Monday. The dig
ging for him was continued all of Sun.
day night At o'clock Monday morn.
ing the men had dug down as far as his
waist at least dozen times, and us many
times the earth caved in again, cover.
ing him completely, and for time all
hopes of getting him out alive would be
given up Several Of the workmen were
caught by the falling dirt and had to be
dug out. Bellman had become exhausted,
but an air pump was got TO work, which
revived him somewhat. The men had
been at work in trench upon one side
Of the well, but when they got down
about fourteen feet the trench became so
marrow that only one man could work in
it, and that only with difficulty. They
then commenced digging trench around
the well fully 30 feet in diameter, which
proved to be the most successful plan of
operation. They toiled diligently, but
we're worn out, as some OF them had
left their homes before dinner and had
eaten nothing. At A. NJ. they had got
down about seven feet on the new plan.
At 4:30 as those at the well were tired
out, the rollnig.mill whistle sounded the


fire alarm, which brought lot of fresh
hands to the spot, and the work pro-
gressed more rapidly. As the earth had
been continually giving way under Bell
man, his feet were fully IL feet below the
surface when he was rescued, which was at
I 6:l0 o'cluek Monday morning. When
first taken out he was as limp as dish
rag, but was cheerful and when offered
some brandy said he did not want it, but
would like an oyster stew. His ears,
nose, mouth, and eyes were filled with
dirt, and he could not speak above a
whisper. His legs were as cold as a
stone and entirely helpless, as the crcu-
lation had stopped entirely, and his face
wore a cadaverous look that was pitiful
to behold. He was placed upon
stretcher and carried TO his homo on
First street, where he was examined by
DIR. Flandrau. He was found to be
very badly bruised from head to foot,
but more especially about the hands and
limbs, but no bones were broken. He
was washed in liquor and wrapped in
warm blankets, and before noon the
blood began to circulate, and he slept a
very little. In the afternoon he was
able to move his limbs little, but was
very weak, and could only whisper. He
is being fed on beef tea and little bran
dy, and the doctor is confident that un-
less inflammation sets in he will get
around all right in few days. In con-
versation with your correspondent, Bell.
man said that he never lost his courage
bat once, and that was after he had
once been where he could see the day
light and breathe the clear air, and then
was covered up again by more than
wagon load OF dirt. He says that the
pump afforded protection for his head,
and had il not been for that he would
have been crushed entirely, and that the
air pump did him immense service, as he
was almost suffocated when it reached
him. The 19 hours during which he
was confined seemed longer to him than
month, and he does not know how to
thank the willing hearts and helping
hands that saved his life and restored
him to his family. This is the second


incident of the kind that has occurred
in this same well. About eighteen
years ago colored man was cleaning it,
when the walls caved in, in nearly the
|, same manner that they did this time.
He was got out alive in abous 10 hours,
but was more seriously injured than
Bellman is, as one of his legs was broken
and one of his hips badly crushed. The


well will now be entirely filed up" Is