Bert T. Yates

Bert T. Yates, 17, student, saved Percival A. Newman, 9, schoolboy, and J. Frederick W. Shaver, 15, student, from drowning, Mille Roches, Ontario, August 30, 1909. By boat, Bert, Percival, Frederick, and two other boys were crossing a section of the St. Lawrence River near the foot of Mille Roches Rapids. An oar lock broke, and the boat upset 135 feet from the bank where the water was five and one?half feet deep. Bert and two of the boys grabbed the boat, which drifted upside down, but Percival, who could not swim, called for help. Bert swam 14 feet to him. He placed Percival’s hands on his shoulder and had swum a few feet with him when he saw Frederick, who could not swim, beneath the surface. He pulled Frederick to the surface, put his arm around Frederick’s body, and swam about seven feet farther with the boys to a punt which was coming to their aid.