Russell L. Norburn, 18, farmer, saved Rupert J. Crowell, 16, student, from an impending fatal fall, Balsam, North Carolina, August 5, 1912. Rupert lost his footing and slid down the rock bank into the torrent of Balsam Falls, at the main brink. He lay dazed with fright a foot or two from the edge of the brink. There was nothing but a sloping ledge of slippery rock five inches high to prevent his falling to jagged rocks 100 feet below. The water rushed by him in waves about two feet high, threatening to carry him over. Norburn saw the accident from the bank 18 feet from Rupert. Releasing his hold on a tree, to which he was holding for safety, Norburn ran toward Rupert. His path led upward across the side of a flat, slippery bank of rock, which sloped sharply toward the brink. His foot slipped as he reached the crest of the bank at the brink, but he maintained his balance. He fell on Rupert to keep him from being washed over and then got to his knees within two feet of the edge of the brink and rolled Rupert out of the water. He cautiously raised Rupert to his feet and, holding Rupert in front of him, carefully walked up the bank. Rupert soon recovered, but Norburn was so nervous that he required the services of a physician. 13938-1233
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