Raymond Harrison, 29, motorman, helped attempt to save Edward Jones, 32, pool room proprietor, and three others from drowning, Troy, Ohio, March 25, 1913. The floodwater of the Great Miami River swept Jones’s home from its site, and the house lodged against trees less than 300 feet from where the water rushed under a railroad bridge. Jones and the other three persons took refuge in a tree. There was a strong suction toward the bridge, and it was thought to be impossible to reach the tree in a boat. Harrison made an effort to do so with a wire fastened to his boat, but after rowing for an hour and 30 minutes without making much headway across the current, his boat was pulled to land. He again set out with another man who aided him by handling the wire. After rowing hard for more than an hour, he reached the tree and took all those in it into the boat. As he was preparing to return with his load, the current carried the boat under a projecting roof, and it was upset. Harrison grabbed a thorn tree and got into it, but the others were carried under the bridge and were drowned. Harrison was taken from the tree the next morning. He was nearly frozen and was badly injured by thorns and was disabled two weeks. 10376-963
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10376-963