Buried Alive

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Galignani gives a thrilling account of two men and a boy being buried six days and six nights, in a marl pit at Ecrettville, in the department of the Seine Inferieure, who were finally rescued alive. During the whole of that time they were without food, without light, and almost without clothes; and they were in such a confined place, that with the exception of the boy, they could not stand upright. Boitard, the eldest man, declares that during the whole time he did not sleep more than two hours; but his companions, and especially the youngest one, more. They slept back to back. They felt no hunger and Boitard says that even if they had pro- j visions, they would not have touched them ; but they experienced great thirst. On the fourth day they found a little water, thick with marl, by digging into the bottom of the pit. It was this water, probably, which preserved their strength At first they heard the noise of the pickaxes and spades above them; but during the last three days their breathing was so loud as to prevent it from reaching them, and this circumstance naturally increased their agony of mind; they also leared the mine-s were digging in a wrong direction. One of them had about 50 chemical matches and a small piece of candle; but though they often tried, they could not, for want ot air, cause the candle to burn. During the latter part ot the time they became so exhausted as to be unconscious of their position ; but the boy once cried as if in a dream, "There is the rope, Boilard! Let us ascend !" One moment and a breath ot air rescued them, they fainted, but alter a while they recovered.

Scientific American Magazine Vol 8 Issue 32This article was published with the title “Buried Alive” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 8 No. 32 (), p. 250
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican04251853-250a

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