The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1910-01-12

"
LONDON. Jan. 13.--In ~ ~
room at Buckjngham palaco rooo
the king held an investiture - q
ferred the honors and docoGr
which were bestowed In his na5c1
birthday honors list. There W. 3 ri
procession Of notable people. II
last OF all came little lad Win nr1
step. frank brown eyes. ana au1n1
cheeks S
This boy was Thomas WIN
Lewis. the hero of the Newport 6C
disaster. A court ofIscial read ~ W
the king an account OF the boys ngu<1
cry In volunteering to 80 down ino1
a pit which teemed with threofo q
death. When this recital WAS nu1on1
the king said In deep. kindly tQG K
Well 'done." aud handed to the IA IN
case containing the Albert medal ~1CD
saving fife." The boy dropped % oCG
knee on the cushioned stool ~ fAX
foot OF the throne and kissed the o11f<
stretched hand OF the king. .]
The king then gave the hoy NJ;
hand to shake. and said, Well d0n4
good luck" .ss'
The boy would have left the tnrou66
room as others had, but the king mo-
toned to two gentlemen ushcry, a1G'
they conducted the boy to the otGW@
ards room. where he was royalty CO.
tertained with chicken. roast beef 81
pudding.
On July last Tom Lewis, then -.
lad OF Is, was standing with = ErOuD.
Of other lads watching the efforts ~
engineers and navies to rescue TO-
men imprisoned by the COLLAPSE ~ ~
great timbered trench In the Newpou<
docks. Far down below the surfaoQ
amid horrible tangle Of timber. uu4
sand and machinery, we're men. dy1nol
and dead. M stH
One of the men could be heaE1'
groaning at some unknown depth 1l
the heart OF this black pit. He might
be anything from 20 to 10 feet 9os
low.
He was certainly helpless. pinns9s
down, doomed IL left there to ter
rible death from the slow rising ttdos
which had broken through the Soox
wall into the trench. There was tn9r
additional possibility that further
collapse of the sand and timbox1s
would crush the life out Of the man,
or of any one who went down to hln
rescue. $3.50
There were men in plenty who
would have gone down to help the
sufferer, but they could not. This
openings between the tangled timher4'
were so small that only a slim Ind
could slip between them. ~,
The rescuers called for a lad to 70
down, and Tom Lewis volunteered HI
was small for his age. his work a. .,
boiler-maker's lad. tossing hot rtvctn
to the riveters. had made him hard
and strong. and he was brave. And
he went down.
Tom Lewis told the story of hjo
wonderful deed in short. simple words. 3
81 was down there" he said. "for two
hours and a quarter The man wa1
about 30 feet down. climbed down
by the timbers had no rope around
me. The man was pinned by his hand
and his feet. He said, I've been here
three days but 1t wasn't more than
three hours. Then he said, Get ham-
mer and chisel and cut my hand out
called up for hammer and chiseL
They sent them down to me with =
saw and some candles. ! stuck the
candles against the timbers and light
ed tne1n. lHey kept soihS Ooes V~st
lit them again with box of matches.
1T was hard work cutting the tim
beers with the chisel | was lyin8
across the body of dead man all the
time, and could hear the blood
dropping from him. After long time
got my mans hand free. Then
hung down and worked at his foot.
At last the men above said ! must
come ND because the sand was SHIFT
ing again. So I came up. An hour
later the man worked his way OUT
with the saw which / gave him. ne
was the last to come out alive"
Several rewards have been given TO
Tom Lewis for his bravery. He has
been presented with watch by the
Carnegie trustees. and Messrs. Eastcn.
Glib g. Son. contractors for the New
mort dock and for the Rosyth naval
base. have promised to make an en-
gineer OF him.
He is now living at Rosyth ana
learning his trade In the machine
shops. Mr.. Glib provides him with
clothing and lodging and 3 shilnnGs
week pocket money. out OF which
ba hanks 2 shillingS X