Luke H. Lancaster helped to save David D. and Francis P. Mokris from drowning, Olmsted Falls, Ohio, August 4, 1935. While wading on a dam in the Rocky River, David, 10, schoolboy, was carried by the current over the darn into water which was seven feet deep, was very turbulent, and had strong currents for 10 feet from the dam. Farther from the dam the water was three feet deep, and there was a current of two m.p.h. Francis, 14, schoolboy, knelt on the dam, tried to reach David, and was carried over the dam. Both boys were buffeted and frequently submerged close to the dam. Lancaster, 33, taxicab driver, jumped from the bank into the water, was submerged, rose, tried to swim, was again submerged, sprang to the surface, and got hold of one of the boys at a point 15 feet from the bank. Both were briefly submerged. Robert F. Trappe threw an inflated tire tube to Lancaster and then plunged into the water. He was briefly submerged and took hold of the other boy, and the boy grabbed Trappe’s shoulder-strap. Both were submerged and became separated, the boy reaching Lancaster and taking hold of him. Trappe rose and swam to Lancaster; and as he tried to take hold of one of the boys, all four were submerged; and Lancaster lost hold of the tube. Francis grabbed Trappe’s leg, and Trappe rose and tried to swim, Francis soon losing his hold. A line was thrown to Trappe from the bank, and he was pulled out of the water. Meanwhile Lancaster kept hold of David and was repeatedly submerged. Francis again drifted to Lancaster; and supporting the two boys, Lancaster recovered the tube and placed it over their heads. Francis held to the tube, but David was briefly submerged. Lancaster gave David and then Francis a push, and both passed beyond the turbulent water and drifted farther from the dam. Lancaster was becoming weak and called for help. A man with a line tied to him then jumped into the water and swam to Lancaster, and he and Lancaster were pulled to the bank. Meanwhile a youth swam to a point 35 feet from the dam, braced himself against a rock in water to his knees, and got hold of David and Francis as they drifted to him. Others aided, and all reached the bank. Francis was unconscious but was revived.
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