The sun., 1903-09-13
he SAVES WOULD-BE SUICIDES
NORkELL. CHE MODEST .WORt,i 4
tOP. VINO ttN SUIT
81 Persons lie Has RC scuCi From Drawn.
tng IN thc Fast III, rr- Never a N,d,i
fOr Il anl M Thanks. to say No,h,,r
Ot Rev arGs--It'S Wv uut,. so,> -.

Cop, has been on duty al the Norm. r,,
seventeen years and for thirty wears la.
been member of the polio" force An,
he IL a modest man
Though he has rescued twenty-on, Nor.
sons from watery gray" there is IA, n,,s
trying to max. "A hero Of him He von.
have il.
Il am not looking for notori"'v, he saw.
i nave only done what IL Is my duty h. d,
He shakes his head when skeu alout
his medals and answers bhntlv. Il haven't
any,
Yes, he admits, know most urnple
who rescue any one from drowning pet ,
medal and S25 besides. but never a..eI
for medal and nobody ever offered ns
one. nor dollar of reward money VOW
see | am only doing my duty"
Morrell is big and slolid and strong.
weighing, in spite Of the fact tina, ho Is 80
agile, nearly 200 pounds. a.. ~ay> IN.
never tasted liquor in his life, net even for
his stomachs sake. Notwithstanding that
his post. as he admits. is one where things
are constantly happening which are likely
TO take the edge of any one s appclr"
Il don't remember much about tho peo.
pie have rescued, says Policeman Nor.
rell slowly, when pressed for details, /
have never kept record of them and M
less there are some unusual circumstances
connected with rescue it soon passos
out of my mind As nearly as can re-
member made my first re-,,l" when vas
attached to the Twenty-fifth precinct up ON
East Sixty-seventh ST rect Une dav whi.
4 IL
ward and Seventy-ifth street. | saw two
little hands pop up out Of the water Just
opposite Blackfish Rock. threw Of nv
coat. dropped my pistol and billy on A.,
dock and jumped in. BY diving was
Just in time TO save the voungste er-a buv
of about eight.
"Di | his mother come and fall on nv
neck for gra,itude?' echoed Morrell with
grin. We'll. l guess not. Although tie
boys folks lived right in tho nrghborhood
no one ever came near me about it.
"It was counting on thanks. though Id
get left pretty often. Sometimes hear
indirectly that the relatives of man or
woman have pulled out of the river ara
coming to thank me, but guess they must
forget about it, They never come
oh. yes, I'm good swimmer. You 20
before | Joined the force I worked on boats
and was in danger of drowning lots of times
myself In the civil war was in lie (ov-
ernment's service on United States trar.-
port that shipped troops to the South,
and afterward ] worked as sailor ,l |
became a policeman.
Since have been stationed at the Morg,c,
though. ] don't often have to jump in tho
river. Do you see that long pole in II .
corner and that coil of rope? Morrell W.,
then in a small office in corner of ~"
Morgue.] Well, keep them there as n
reserve Now III show You something
else"
In a storeroom piled to the ceiling W! h
unpainted wooden collins designed for tho
city. unclaimed dead. he pointed out an
other graphing hook. at least twenty feet
long. placed conveniently near an open
window overlooking the Bellevue Hospit |
grounds where they meet the river bI''
side he window was a wooden hook la,l."I,
which on occasion is lot down 10 bring n"
rescuer and his hook nearer the water.
Almost AS many people, according I"
hospital grounds as from the Twenty-slNh
street pier, from which start all the boats
of the Charities Depart ment for Black
wells and Wards islands. At the end II
that pier are another long graphing h'' =,
a coil Of rope and life preservers, and, 30
boat time, Policeman Morrell is wild" a""""
an d ready for emergencies.
Almost as soon as some of the would, "
suicides strike the water they seem to rcpe'
and are glad eH ough to take hold of rope.
he explained, "but others fight like mad
TO die. ] remember one man who es'al'd
from the Bellevue insane pavilion ard
jumped in. ], was in winter. There vas
Ice in the river. Tho way that man 'rurl'
10 keep out of the way Of the GrapIii &
hooks was wonderful. 1t began to look aH
il would have to jump ill after him. hut
I waited bit to give rle cold water char ~
to numb him and knock out hls tgE.lu
fever. 1t soon did. Even after J lart'i
him. though. he put up pretty stiff fig,
About one-thrd of the persons I llNa
rescued We're women. II il genera" "
easier to get a woman out Of the wntrr
than II is a man. but have had al Gpi !
time with some Of them on the dock. Men
strike out and swear. but women scream
ard claw.
The worst cases are those llsat tIy +"
drag ii child along int" ,hr river, A'"H'
a wear ago one of these al'usOt go ava
from me The woman had been patlrl'
at Bellevue in the insane ward, b'i, to II
year had been living at home with l"'
husband and children. OF course she VS.
known TO the men in the grounds, and tNat
day, when she came along holding nll"-
year-old girl by the hand, no one tried -
stop her
at was the child's scream that brough'
me out She held on to the railing md
wouldn't take the plunge with her mother
OH yes, ! got the woman out.
Then it was only few weeks ago Of l
Sunday afternoon that another wonnn
rushed down 10 the pier holding on 10
boy of l3 and made jump for thc wa'"'
As luck would have il ! was getting drln'
Of water only few yards away and 50"
her coming in lime TO throw my arm nrouu'
her waist just "a she made the spring NO
the river still clutching the boy hand
"She was a small woman. weighing '''
much more than hundred pounds. hu' > a
fought like n devil and clawnd like 'i'
She had auarrelled with her huslanh
some one told me afterward and had h'.t
watching her chance all day 10 con't
suicide at that spot
When that old officer turns hi. back
I'm going 10 jump in she had told r''
boy al hour before but the child pah, -
attention till his mother hegau dragg 4
him toward the river.
How many people have ] preH"n'''
from jumping in' oh. dozens, ! En"ss
But. pshaw that's nothing m onlydons
nv duty"