Dale Lambert Mendenhall rescued A. Odius Ewing and attempted to save James E. Marney from suffocation, Wichita Falls, Texas, July 5, 1939. Marney, 48, sewer maintenance man, was overcome by an unidentified gas in a sewer manhole 11 feet deep and lay in sewage inches deep. The day was very hot. Marney’s co-worker, Ewing, 34, at the direction of his superior, descended a ladder to the bottom of the manhole and lifted Marney; but he was overcome and lay on Marney. Mendenhall, 40, oil-well shooter, who was attracted to the manhole, was told that Marney and Ewing had been overcome by gas and that a gas-mask had been sent for. Although warned against entering without a mask, Mendenhall, having a rope tied around him and a handkerchief tied over his nose and mouth and carrying another rope, descended the ladder. When he got within two feet of the bottom, he signaled by pulling his rope; and men at the top pulled him out. Two minutes later wearing a gas-mask and roped, he descended the ladder. The mask was too large and had no nose-clip; and as he stooped, gas entered it. He tied the rope around Ewing and was drawn out. Ewing then was drawn out. Mendenhall had been in the manhole a minute and a half. Mendenhall wearing the mask, again descended the ladder and tied the rope around Marney. He moved more slowly than while rescuing Ewing. Men pulled him out, and Marney was drawn out, but he was dead. Mendenhall collapsed at the surface but recovered. Ewing, who was revived, died the following night. 37877-3153
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