Paul R. Lehman saved Delbert D. Withey from suffocation, Waterman, Illinois, October 30, 1940. While spraying a fumigant into an empty grain-bin that was 23 feet deep and open only at the top, Withey, 29, mill manager, was overcome by hydrocyanic acid gas and fell to the bottom of the bin. Lehman, 27, mill hand alone of eight men volunteered to enter the bin. Tying a handkerchief across his nose and mouth, Lehman walked on the rim of the bin, which was a foot wide, to a timber that extended upright from the rim. Holding his breath, he held to the timber, lowered himself six feet below the rim, and got footing at the end of a slender tie-rod that extended across the bin. By means of two other rods at intervals of six feet below the first he lowered himself to the bottom. A rope was lowered to him, and he looped it around Withey’s feet. Withey was pulled from the bin and was revived. Lehman by means of the rods and the timber climbed to the top, having been in the bin for a minute and a quarter. He walked on the rim to a platform flanking the rim and became unconscious. Men pulled him onto the platform, and he was revived. 38661-3206
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