| Show I SAVES DYING MAN N IN CAVEIN WELL I ti HOW ANDREW J HEDGER OF GARDEN GAR-DEN CITY KAN WON A CARNEGIE CAR-NEGIE MEDAL t t t FORGOT SELF FOR FELLOW MAN A r 4 rA Calmly Made His Will and Arranged W t for Handling of Property In Event of Death and Then Rescued fi Victim t Kansas City MoAmong nil of the t cases of heroism reported to the Carnegie hero fund commission there ° Is one which stands In u class by Itself I tJ as tho best Illustration of Individual k bravery on record with this commission rr f commis-sion which has knowledge of thou t + I + sands of cases any one of which Is 1 Ill mifllcloiit to call tor commendation H 4 Ii r This hero of heroes Is Andrew T I I 1 Hedger aged 45 now of Garden City Ian superintendent of schools In li I 1 F f 7 I I I J F I v 1 I Rlhr vj j i I I 1 L i r t J I ri c t r 0 qII Ht I I I t r d tfl r J d I I < fl t 1 tl I An Effort Was Made to Draw Him I > Out But This Failed I Haskoll county who while visiting a I r school In an adjoining county as a I J favor to friend also a superintend II i II out of schools learned of an accident + In a well that was being repaired two 1 miles distant and without a moment of r JJj oj fg hesitation left the school and running run-ning the entire distance succeeded t after every other man thero had refused i re-fused oven to assist him In saving tho r ti llfo of one man and recovering tho t body of another which had been burled in two tons of sand 32 feot below tho 1H > surface of the ground f1 The scene of tho accident and heroic Gr 4 rescue is on tho farm of William II 1 I Nunni who wds killed about six miles southwest of tho vlllago of s I r > I Plorcovlllo Kan through which thor 1 t tho-r Arkansas river wlndn Its way u On the southern side of the Arkan i m Gas river is a chain of sand hills about I t + 70 miles long and It was In this formation td forma-tion tho accident happened Thq I i mum farm is located in about tho con I I ter of these hills A woll 72 feot deep + t had been drilled on this property about a year previous and had be I 11 come clogged although cased up with f twoinch piped pipe-d S Tho sand point or screen had failed i to work properly for several days and r M an excavation about four feet square 1 j t was mado with the woll casing In one 1 corner of tho hole There was no i j a platform at tho top of tho well but a derrick about 20 feet high had been 1 built over tho opening Tho excavation excava-tion was not walled up and there was 11 no water at the 32foot depth whore hum i tho trouble was located The weather i l was fair with moderate temperature and the sun was shining brightly k f Rains during a few previous days had r t caused the sand to be very wet f When William Nunn decided to repair re-pair his well he asked tho assistance I of Joseph H King and W II Taylor I neighboring farmers Tho sand point f M used In clearing out the well had been l w drawn to a point at tho bottom of tho t excavation whero It stuck 1 Nunn and King had been working In tho excavation the day previous J and when the sand point stuck they e i wore also in tho hole while Taylor yj was at tho top operating a rope to tho i end of which was attached a small l sand box On tho afternoon of the t < 1 day of tho accident Mr King said hoI ho-I would go to tho top and get a file and t after separating a section of tho casing I cas-ing would lllo the sand point loose sot so-t that It would work properly Nunn and King were standing together to-gether at tho bottom of the excavation 3 + e when King caught hold of the ropo 1 and gave tho signal to Taylor abovo c to draw him up Suddenly and without 1i with-out tho slightest warning about two tons of sand caved In on tho men rf The fall of sand struck Nunn fairly and burled him completely and King was buried up to his armpits with his i I arms hold against his body by tho weight of the sand r There was no ladder and as there t i i < was no one at tho mouth of tho well t I to lower him Taylor who was at tho r ir top was powerless to give assistance I although King who could talk was begging for help Taylor jumped on his horso and rode rapidly away In search of assistance and soon the I Xs V countryside was aroused and was hurt hur-t rying to the scene of the accident but 1 g despite Kings cries and pleas for help ti there was no one who would venture J down to the rescue 1 r I As Taylor rodo pawl the Webb school on his trip to notify tho farmers of I tho accident and ask for assistance the children worn having their recess and hearing tho news reported It to their teacher At this time Mr Hedger was visitIng visit-Ing Webb school lie Is a man of herculean build standing live feet ten Inches and weighing 207 pounds and as soon as ho learned of the accident ho rushed from the schoolhouse and ran all tho two miles to the olio of tho well and found a largo number of men already gathered there but none of whom was making any effort at rescuing res-cuing the Imprisoned men lie looked Into tho well heard King pleading for his life and turning to the crowd asked for somo ono who would volunteer to go with him to tho rescue of the men Thero was a alienee of several mln utcs not one of thp men offering to lend any assistance and Hedger said Never mind I will go alone and Clod helping mo will bring tho men to the top and for my childrens sake I hope 1 also will get back to tho topWith With ono of tho most noted demonstrations demon-strations of coolness In tho face of ox tremo danger on record ho stopped only long enough to make his will and to arrange for tho handling of his small property in tho event of his death while In too well or as a result of his descent luto It As soon as ho reached the bottom and u shovel was lowered to him ho commenced work to release King and when part of his body had been uncovered uncov-ered an effort was mado to draw him out but this failed because the body of Nunn J had fallen across tho legs of King and pinioned him Then all of hu Band was removed and Nunns body was uncovered but ho was dead Tho body was laid to ono side and King was raised to tho surface moro dead than alive The rope was again lowered into tho well and then Hedger tied tho ropo about the body of tho dead man and losing sight of the danger In which ho was Insisted that ho body be raised before ho attempted at-tempted to mako his own escape It required from two to two and one half hours to get tho two men and tho rescuer from tho well 0 No pre caution was mane to wall me sides of tho well to prevent a further cave In before Hedger mado his sensational sensation-al descent and the only caro taken was that ono man was to watch the side of tho well where it looked more likely that thero would bo a further cavein and If such a thing occurred this man was to shout a warning to Hedger and ho from tho bottom of the well was to make nn effort to getaway get-away from tho deluge of sand by climbing up tho twoinch pipe |
