Cave in at the Cactus Patch The year, 1950, Sample road west of Old Dixie highway was largely undeveloped. There were about six homes on the North side of Sample from Dixie highway to NE 3rd Ave and about six on the South side. Most of these homes were less than a year old having been built after the land was platted and sold at auction in late 1948 and 1949. Sample road at this time was paved from Dixie to NE 3rd Ave. From there to Powerline it was a one lane rock road that was bordered on either side by a drainage ditch and the land adjacent to the road stayed under water much of the time. It contained scrub oak, palmetto and pine trees to the SCL railroad tracks and from there to Powerline it was much the same with several acres of wildcat farming operations bordering the road. To the East, Sample road stopped at Old Dixie highway and at this time there was no crossing at the tracks. Sample road did not exist to the East. We had mail delivery by rural carrier to a bank of mail boxes facing Dixie at Sample road. There was no telephone service to this area and would be several years before this happened. It was new years day, Sunday, January 1. 1950. the time, just after noon, when my neighbor, Lloyd Hutchinson, stopped in front of my house in the 500 block of Sample Rd,, blew his car horn and when I went to the door yelled for me to get my shovel and come down to Dixie highway, which was about 3 blocks from my house. He didn't wait for me to inquire as to the reason, but drove off in a hurry. I rushed out back, got my shovel and told my wife that something must have happened and I would go see what it was. I got in my truck and when I reached Dixie, I could see several cars parked alongside the road and railroad about two blocks North of Sample and I could see people on the East side of the tracks about 200 feet or so in an open field and were standing in a group. I parked, crossed the tracks and when I approached the group, I was told to walk softly and don't make any loud noises, that there was a man in a deep hole and it had caved in on him and his head had been uncovered before he could suffocate. He was trapped and had to be gotten out in some way. I crawled to the lip of the hole, looked in and there, about 25 or 30 feet down was a black dot, which I soon realized was a mans head, not moving and that's all there was to be seen down in a very narrow hole dug in the white and brown sugar sand. At one time in years past, this field had been a pineapple farm, the old packing shed sat on the far side of the field and at this time most of the pineapples had been removed and the property now belonged to a man of Italian descent, he had planted cactus on a good part of the 10 or so acres and was in the process of driving a well for a source of water. The method for doing this in sandy soils such as this was to connect a piece of pipe to a sandpoint, which was a 5 ft section of 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 inch galvanized pipe that had a cast point on the end ,had copper screen in ports along the entire length of the pipe and driving it into the sand and into moisture deeper and deeper adding another section of pipe as it went down and on until it struck rock. Then connect a suction pump to the top end, the screen would keep the sand out and allow water to be pumped out of the ground. This was the reason the man was trapped in the hole. The pipe the owner and his helper (the man trapped in the cave-in,) were driving was down about 30 feet when the sand point broke off at the first 5 ft. joint. The logical thing to do would be to get another sandpoint (about $5.00) pull the rest of the pipe up and drive down another one. The owner decided to try to salvage the sand point by digging down to it, removing it and use it again. This was a very bad decision on his part, possible he did not realize how far down it was , the looseness of the sand and how easily it could cave in. He and his helper, (a man of Spanish descent that spoke very little English) dug a hole and it remains a mystery to this day, how they ever reached this depth before the first cave-in occurred and this was the one that covered the helper and some way or another, the owner was able to dig down to him in the soft sand a distance of several feet ,uncover his head allowing him to breathe, then getting out of the hole and going for help. The tripod that had been erected over the hole with a block and tackle and a rope that allowed them to drive the pipe down was used to get into and out of the hole. This was the scene that greeted us when we responded to the call for help by the owner, he was distraught , suffering from shock and was no help in the task we faced in getting his man freed before another cave-in covered him. A call went out for more help and there was a response from the Sheriffs department and from volunteer firemen from Deerfield and Pompano. Among those responding was the Sheriff of Broward County, Walter Clark. He arrived and immediately picked-up a shovel and began helping to move sand back away from the edge of the hole to lessen the chance of another cave-in. It was quickly decided the only way to get the man out of the hole alive was to start digging a slanting hole about 30 or 40 ft. back and about 8 ft. wide all the way down to the man and we had to be very careful that we did not cause any cave-ins in the soft dry sand. Another problem arose that had to be addressed and quickly, the cave-in was close to the railroad tracks and the numerous trains that passed caused sand to filter down. The call went out by sheriff Clark to the rail road section foreman (my dad, J.E. Garner.) He arrived and placed two men, one a mile North of the site and one a mile to the South. Each man was given a supply of “torpedoes” (these were 2'x 2' squares of fulminate of mercury with two strips of lead that fastened them to the tracks) when a train wheel ran over them they produced a loud 'bang' that could be heard above the sound of the train by the train crew. One torpedo meant for the train to slow down, two meant for the train to stop. By placing one on the tracks the trains slowed down which decreased vibrations that might cause further cave-ins. To further reduce the possibility of a cave-in suffocating the man in the hole, a large bucket, a garden hose and a tank of oxygen procured by one of the fireman was rigged with one end of the hose being placed in a hole that was knocked in the bottom of the bucket, tied in a knot.inside the bucket and lowered down into the hole and over the head of the trapped man who at this time was apparently in shock. The other end of the hose connected to the oxygen tank, opened just enough to allow a supply of oxygen so he would not be suffocated by the bucket. This gave us a sense of security that at least if it caved in now, we could possible keep him alive until he could dig him out. Night was approaching and this posed another problem. lights, we had been digging all afternoon and were not even close to having the ramp wide or deep enough. Once again, Sheriff Clark sent his men for lights, they returned with a small generator and a battery powered light that produced enough light for us to continue with our digging.. Some of the ladies that lived in the area brought coffee and sandwiches to the rescuers, it was greatly appreciated. The amount of sand we dug and moved had to be by hand because there were no drag lines or backhoes available to do it. The sand had to be handled several times to get it out of the trench, back up to the top and moved back far enough to be able to continue. Not only was the trapped man in peril, the rescue workers that were deep in the trench shoveling sand were also in a position that a cave-in could possible cover them. It was after midnight when we finally reached the trapped man, He had to be lifted out of the hole by several men, he had been trapped in a squatting position with nothing but his head showing for close to 14 hours in the moist cold sand and was unable to straighten up or utter any sounds at all, but he was alive.. A great relief was felt by all . The owner that stayed while this was going on was too overcome to say anything. Sheriff Clark had an ambulance standing by and a stretcher awaiting to transport him to the nearest hospital, which was Broward General in Ft. Lauderdale where he recovered quickly from the ordeal. Among the many assisting in this rescue was several of the men that lived in this neighborhood, among them were, Lloyd Hutchinson, Pat and Floyd McCartha, Monk Smith, Jim Shivel,and the assistant Pompano post master, Emmett Newman. It was a long first day of the year in 1950. and one I will always remember. The next day, after an investigation was made of the accident. Sheriff Clark sent a detachment of County prisoners to the site. The hole and runway was filled in and it no longer constituted a threat to anyone. Today, 48 years after this happened, part of the site of this near disaster is still undeveloped and remains a field over grown with Florida holly, palmetto, scrub oaks, love vines and pine trees. I think about this incident and that sandpoint , still buried some 30 feet down every time I pass along there. (High Sheriff Walter R. Clark died of cancer on April 24, 1951, at the age of 46, just 15 months after the rescue of this cave-in victim. His help and concern for people was aptly demonstrated at this time.)