Charles H. Matteson, 54, carpenter, saved William A. Crispin, 54, farmer, from suffocation, Oakridge, Oregon, September 10, 1933. Crispin was overcome by gas while being raised in a well 43 feet deep and fell a few feet to the bottom from the bucket hooked to a windlass-rope. After another man, who previously had told Matteson there was gas in the well, refused to enter the well or to operate the windlass for Matteson to enter, a woman volunteered to operate the windlass. Carrying a short rope, Matteson slid down the windlass-rope to the bottom of the well, scooped mud from Crispin’s sides, tied the short rope around Crispin under his arms, and attached the hook of the windlass-rope to the rope at Crispin’s chest. Crispin was drawn out of the well. The windlass-rope was lowered to Matteson, and he made a loop in the end, stood in the loop, and was drawn out of the well. As he reached the surface, Matteson became dizzy and ill. He recovered in an hour. Crispin also recovered.
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