Ralph H. Potter saved Betty J. Crosswell from exposure in a well, Tyler, Texas, September 8, 1936. Betty, 2, fell into an abandoned well, landing on rubbish 25 feet below the surface. Potter, 22, stenographer, who thought that Betty might have been seriously injured and that gas might be in the well, braced his hands, feet, and back against the wall and slowly worked his way to the bottom. Calling to two men to lower a hose, which was near by and in poor condition, Potter was told that the hose would not support his weight and Betty’s. Bracing himself against the wall as before and holding Betty astride his leg, he tried to ascend the well but could not. After the men again refused to lower the hose, Potter called that he felt as though he were going to faint and requested them to lower it. One end was dropped into the well; and while Betty held to Potter’s neck with her arms, they were drawn from the well, as Potter held Betty in one arm, and with both hands held to the hose, and pushed and scraped with his feet against the wall. At the top Potter fainted from excitement but revived. Betty sustained slight injuries.
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