Irvin Skidmore, 30, plasterer, saved Emma Bogart, 52; Mae Bogart, 20, and William A. Bogart, 58, farmer, from drowning, Ross, Ohio, March 25, 1913. The Great Miami River overflowed its banks, and the Bogart house was surrounded by water 10 feet deep. Near the house a current about 600 feet wide flowed with a speed of about 7 m.p.h. Although Skidmore was tired from doing other rescue work, he set out in darkness in a flat-bottomed, square-ended boat and crossed the current to the house, rowing a distance of about 1,600 feet. He took the women into the boat and rowed about a half-mile, amidst much debris, to high land, narrowly escaping a collision with a tree on the way. Then, being guided only by what he could see during flashes of lightning, he returned to the house for Bogart. Skidmore was compelled to rest at the house, after which he set out with Bogart. He lost sight of a light which he had used as a beacon and rowed in a wandering course for some time, then he reached land a half-mile from his previous landing place. The water continued to rise until it was 13 feet deep at the house. 10624-933
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