George E. Keith died attempting to save E. Estel Harmon from suffocation, Pooleville, Oklahoma, December 19, 1934. Harmon, 19, was overcome by oil fumes and fell backward from a ladder in a tank into which oil was flowing and was 16 inches deep. Harmon’s head rested on a pipe, and his face was above the level of the oil. After Harmon had been in the tank for a minute, Keith, 43, oil well driller, who knew that Harmon had entered the tank simply to recover a measuring stick, climbed upon the tank, called for help, and then entered the tank through a manhole on its top on. He descended the ladder and was overcome. A man ran to the tank and from the manhole saw Keith lying face down in the oil at the bottom of the ladder. Men chopped a hole two feet square close to the bottom of the tank. As oil flowed out, men reached through the hole and pulled Harmon out. Keith was pulled through the hole by means of an iron hook. Harmon soon regained consciousness and recovered. Keith had been in the tank 20 minutes and could not be revived.
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