Cicero C. Chamberlain, 31, farmer, saved George W. Baxter, 36, farmer, and Pearley McLaughlin, 18, farmhand, from drowning, Higby, Ohio, March 26, 1913. The rapidly rising waters of the Scioto River surrounded the Baxter home, and Baxter and McLaughlin took refuge in an apple tree around which the water was nine feet deep. Chamberlain, who could not swim, after having rowed over a mile with others who had been endangered, set out from a point a mile above the tree and quartered the swift current toward the men. The water was very rough and was covered with debris. The current swept the boat past the tree, and Chamberlain could not stop. Two minutes later the Baxter house, 12 feet from the tree, was demolished and swept away. Chamberlain landed a mile from the tree. The boat was put into a wagon and taken to Chamberlain’s original starting place. Although he was very tired and was told that he would be drowned, he again set out. As he swept under the tree, the men dropped. Baxter landed squarely in the boat, but McLaughlin hung over the gunwale. A great quantity of water was shipped in getting him into the boat, and within a few moments the boat struck a tree, and more water was shipped. Baxter and McLaughlin bailed the water out with their hats. Chamberlain effected a landing a mile from the tree. 11007-936
11007 – 936
11007-936