Henry W. Burge, 23, farmhand, saved Walter C. Bailey, 29, farmer, from suffocation, Delba, Texas, March 6, 1911. Bailey had been overcome at the bottom of a well, 26 feet deep, by gas that had rushed into the well from a newly opened pocket following an ineffective blast. After other men had refused to go to his rescue, Burge had himself lowered into the well with a rope. He placed the rope around Bailey, fastened it, and then grasped it above Bailey’s head. The men at the surface pulled both up at once. When near the top, Burge became so weak that his hold on the rope relaxed, but men above grasped him before he fell. Bailey was revived after several hours. Burge did not lose consciousness, but he was dizzy and weak and was disabled six days. 6404-689
6404 – 689
6404-689