Clifton W. Clark, 39, newspaper publisher, died helping to save David H. Shissler, 32, farmer, from suffocation, Elmwood, Illinois, December 3, 1955. While attempting to open a clogged drain inside a 16-foot-deep septic tank at his home, Shissler was rendered unconscious by an unidentified sewer gas. Clark and Keith B. Lucas, 40, were helping with the work, and Clark entered the tank through an 18-inch manhole in the top while Lucas called to a neighbor to summon aid. With Clark helping from inside, Lucas pulled Shissler from the tank and, after reviving him, entered the tank to help Clark. Receiving no answer to his call to Lucas, Shissler again descended through the manhole and found both Clark and Lucas floating inertly in sewage 10 feet deep. While sitting on a dividing wall directly under the opening and holding the heads of Clark and Lucas above the surface, Shissler again became unconscious. Firemen arrived and were told by the neighbor that Shissler was inside the tank. They removed Shissler and began efforts to revive him. They removed Clark soon afterward but did not see Lucas in the tank. Shissler revived sufficiently five minutes later to tell the others that Lucas also was inside the tank. A fireman located Lucas and then removed him from the tank. All three men were taken to a hospital, where Clark and Lucas were pronounced dead. Shissler recovered after a lengthy illness. 43710-4063
43710 – 4063
43710-4063