100 years ago: Local man survives well collapse

From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for July 13, 1911:

  • “The men who were busy yesterday afternoon taking the rock and dirt from the well in which William Harper was supposed to have been killed were startled about 5 o’clock to hear him talking to them from underneath the pile of rock that had caved in on him, and at about 7:10 the victim was taken to the surface alive after having been entombed in the well for 6 hours and 15 minutes…. The escape is nothing short of miraculous as he was buried underneath about 16 feet of earth, stone and mortar and it is estimated that at least two tons of earth and rock were on top of the buried man. Wm. Harper is a well known colored man about Lawrence and he made a business of cleaning wells and had been in the one in which he was entrapped several times before he went into it yesterday. He is said to be about 70 years old.”
  • “Allie Carroll, ‘Butch’ Cowell and Prof. H. A. Rice spent last night at camp near Cameron’s bluff and returned this morning with the nicest string of cat fish that has been brought to town for some time. They made a catch of 39…. This is the signal for a general hike up the river to the fishing grounds and it is a safe bet that the river will be crowded with Lawrence fishermen for a few days.”
  • “Will the new [tuberculosis] sanitorium authorized by the late legislature be located at Vinland? That has been the talk for some time and today a committee from the state board of health is visiting the W. E. Barnes farm and looking after its advantages. The farm is ideally located. It is on a large eminence and is surrounded by acres of large trees. It is declared that the trees kill the infection. This being true it would remove any fear the people might have about the location of such an institution near them.”