Geoffrey R. Milne died attempting to save Charles A. Moreau from drowning, Sorel, Quebec, April 23, 1937. While a tank-ship was being maneuvered by means of tugs to a wharf in the Saint Lawrence River, Moreau, 24, deckhand, fell from a rope into water 35 feet deep, midway between the wharf and the ship, which at that point was 20 feet from the wharf and slowly swinging closer. Men signaled a tug to hold the ship from the wharf. Milne, 36, naval architect and engineer, who was clothed and who wore knee-length boots, made fast one end of a line to a railing at the deck; and holding to the line, he dropped down 12 feet to the water near Moreau. Wrapping the line around his wrist, he stroked, to steady himself and took hold of Moreau’s clothing under his armpit. Milne then released his hold of Moreau, got at his side, and turned to face the ship. His arm appeared to be around Moreau’s back under the surface. From the deck a ladder was extended to within reach of Moreau and Milne. Moreau took hold of a rung under the surface and put his other arm across Milne’s neck. Meanwhile the ship drifted three feet closer to the wharf and then stopped. A man descended the ladder to within a foot or two of Milne and Moreau. At that moment turbulent water from the forward tug’s propeller rushed toward the stern between the ship and the wharf, and Moreau and Milne were swept from the ladder. Both were drowned.
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