William H. Myers, 52, deputy constable, saved John M. Reynolds, 70, farmhand, and Harold E. Reeder, 25, locomotive hostler, from drowning, Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, March 4, 1923. While Reynolds and Reeder were rowing on floodwaters in a field between the West Branch of the Susquehanna River and Bald Eagle Creek, they were caught in a swift current and carried to a wooded area. They grasped branches of trees, four of which grew close together 500 feet from the junction of the two streams, and they climbed into the trees. The boat was whirled away. The water rose until it was 10 feet deep, and it was very cold. After they had been in the trees for seven hours and were almost exhausted from exposure, Myers started to their rescue in a flatboat, accompanied by Reeder’s father, who held a lantern. It was very dark, and waves three feet high and cakes of ice swept across the field from the river to the creek. To reach them, Myers let the boat drift from a railroad track, which was above the water, for a quarter-mile along the course of the creek in a strong current. Then the boat was forced against the current coming from the river with great difficulty, Myers and his companion pushing it or pulling it from tree to tree until they reached the two men, who got into it. The boat was then allowed to drift with the current from tree to tree, as Myers rowed to check its progress, and it was then rowed across the creek to the hillside, the current being 8 m.p.h. in the middle of the creek and carrying occasional cakes of ice. 23149-1868
23149 – 1868
23149-1868