Olive M. J. Cooper, 32, housewife, saved H. Wilhelmina, 20; Esther, 9; Benjamin R., 6, and Helen Bauer, 16, from drowning, Spencerville, Indiana, July 4, 1911. Benjamin entered a deep hole in the St. Joseph River, and his sisters got into the hole in their efforts to save him. Mrs. Cooper was the only swimmer present. She entered the hole near Wilhelmina and pushed her a few feet to safety. She swam in turn to Esther and Benjamin, 10 and 16 feet from the edge of the hole, and brought them back to wadable water. She then swam 50 feet to Helen, who had been struggling violently. Helen seized Mrs. Cooper’s hair but almost immediately released her hold on it. By then, Mrs. Cooper found that she was in wadable water at the far end of the hole, and she waded ashore with Helen, who was then unconscious. Helen was revived. 7241-1234
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