Arthur A. Simmers, 20, carpenter, helped to save Benjamin Deroch, 30, machinist, from drowning, Lawrence, Massachusetts, June 18, 1916. Deroch was in a motorboat in the Merrimac River and was drifting toward a dam over which the water dropped 28 feet. There was a heavy rainstorm, the wind was blowing 30 m.p.h., and there was a current of 4 m.p.h. The engine of the motorboat stopped, and Deroch was unaware of his proximity to the dam. Simmers and another man, after other men refused to go to the rescue, paddled a canoe 225 feet from the bank to the motorboat, reaching it 250 feet from the dam. After some delay, during which they drifted at least 50 feet nearer the dam, Deroch got into the canoe. Simmers and his companion paddled hard for at least a half a minute before they could make any progress away from the dam. They followed a circuitous course and finally reached the bank. The motorboat was lost. 17246-1495
17246 – 1495
17246-1495