James D. Prater, 25, farmer, saved Ernest Whitetree, 18, farmer, from suffocation, Tiff City, Missouri, June 24, 1911. Whitetree descended into a well and tied a rope around a man who was unconscious at the bottom, 25 feet below the surface. Whitetree thought the man had fainted from heat and overwork, but he had been overcome by carbon dioxide. The man was hoisted by means of the rope, but Whitetree was overcome before he could leave the well. Prater was called to the scene, and although he saw the unconscious man on the ground and knew that another man at the well had refused to enter the well, he had himself lowered with his foot in a loop in the well rope. He tied another rope around Whitetree and was then hoisted. Whitetree was drawn up. He was unconscious for several hours, and he was blind for three or four days after the accident. 9454-996
9454 – 996
9454-996