Norman E. Jett helped to save John Nanfro from a cave-in in a subway excavation, Brooklyn, New York, April 17, 1917. Nanfro, 31, laborer, was caught and carried down from street level into a deep hole when the sides and timbers over the hole gave way. The front of the first and second stories of a four-story stone and brick building fell into the hole when the sand under the foundation gave way, making a mass of heavy timbers, sand, brick, and other debris. Nanfro was buried 25 feet below street level and 20 feet from the bottom of the excavation. Jett, 36, foreman carpenter, and other carpenters, who were summoned to the scene to do work at the surface, learned that groans were heard coming from the hole. Jett went through a timbered part of the subway excavation to the end of the hole and from there climbed over the debris for a distance of about 35 feet to a point over Nanfro. Warnings were called by persons at the surface, who believed that a further collapse of the building was imminent. Jett and three men who had followed him removed the debris piece by piece from over Nanfro, making a hole around him six feet deep. Small slides of sand fell from under the building frequently. At one time a mass of about two cubic feet of sand fell with a rush. One of the men with Jett was frightened, and he went about 10 feet toward a point of safety, where he remained. Jett called for a saw. When one was thrown to him, he sawed three or four timbers from above Narifro, whose leg was then pinned down by a timber a foot square and by a piece of light iron fencing. Jett pushed the fence down sufficiently to free Nanfro, then Nanfro was put on Jett’s back with his arms around Jett’s neck. Two other men then each held one of Nanfro’s legs and balanced Jett as he retraced his steps to the subway. Forty-five minutes or more had been consumed in the performance of the act. Nanfro recovered from his injuries. 17900-1395
17900 – 1395
17900-1395