Elbert Gray, 16, schoolboy, saved A. Calvin Stepp, 2, from drowning, Canton, Texas, February 5, 1912. Calvin fell feet first into a well, 13 inches in diameter and 60 feet deep, that contained 18 inches of water. Unsuccessful efforts were made to rescue him with a hook. An uncle of the child went to a town three miles distant and there met Elbert, to whom he told the circumstances. Making no mention of a reward, he asked Elbert if he would enter the well, and Elbert said he would. When Elbert reached the well, a rope was tied under his arms, and he was lowered into the well. He put his shoulders forward in order to make his body smaller and held his hands down in front of him. He grasped Calvin and was hoisted to a point near the surface when Calvin’s clothes gave way and he again dropped to the bottom. Elbert was hoisted to the surface. He was crying, being somewhat frightened. The skin had been rubbed off his arms in several places, and his face was scratched and bleeding. When asked, he agreed to descend headfirst with a rope around his ankles, although he heard a man say that he would be dead before he reached the bottom. Elbert was lowered into the well headfirst carrying a rope, and when he reached Calvin, he tied the rope around him, and both were hoisted. Neither suffered any ill effects from the experience. 8205-778
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