Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1912-03-15
Col0REO Buys BRAVE DEED
HE REscuEs WHITE BABY FROM
A 6c.Foor WELL. WHEN EVERY.
BODY ELSE EXCEPT THE
cHILD's MOTHER, De.
SPARED. .g&

Point (Tex) Chronicle, a white paper
It is self-explanatory, yet we just cant
desist from saying that 1t tells unmis-
takably that as true spirit Of hero
ism and manly qualities turks in the
colored mans breast as does in any
other being living, and, in many In
stances, he seems to possess more
Among other things, the following Is
noted: ..IN. Eg@
The hero of the hour was Albert
Gray, a negro boy of fifteen years OF
age and the sen Of Bud Gray. The
boy is small for his age and was thus
enabled to go head downward into
the small hole and fasten rope
around the child's body, by which
means it was drawn from its perilous
position, a feat requiring rare cour'
age and worthy of a Carnegie medal.
The we'll was at the home of Yer
non Stepp. In drilling it rock had
been struck some so feet down and
the well had been abandoned for Il
new location. Unfortunately it had
not been covered over and had not
been cugbed. 1t was Of the ordinary
bored Well type, making a hole some
Ii or IA inches in diameter The
baby's Grandmother .Stepp saw the
little fodder just as its unsteady and
unknowing footsteps went into the
we'll and the little baby shot down
ward to the bottom. The alarm was
spread rapidly and soon ne1ghbors
and men from town began to assemble,
all intent ON devising some means by
which the child might be rescued
and stout hearts quaked as the baby's
piteous voice pleaded out from Its
narrow prison, Mamma, tome dit me
out" This brought the assurance,
however, that the child was still alive,
and this assurance gave strength to
men and women-some frantic, some
cool and deliberate-in their efforts
to devise some means of rescue. With
the aid of reflected light the child
could be plainly seen and an enort
was made to loop rope about its
body, but the little mind could. not
understand and the little arms fought
off the life.saving rope. The frantic
mother begged to be lowered into the
we'll to rescue her child and, clad IN
mans attire, with ropes attached to
her feet, she made the attempt, but
her shoulders were too broad to allow
her entrance in the we'll.
1t was apparent that the only hope
was to secure some person whose body
was small enough and who was yet
brave enough to 60 into the we'll, and
a messenger had been dispatched to
town for this purpose. 1t was the re-
suit of this trip that brought the ne
gro boy to the scene.
He expressed his readiness to under
take the task and was first lowered
into the we'll feet first. In this way
he managed to catch the arm OF the
child, but when about half way up
the waistband of the child's clothing
gave way and the little fellow for the
second time dropped to the bottom
Of the WELL Hearts turned sick when
the falling child told listening ears
what. had happened. The boy was
drawn out and though. his head
was bleeding from scratches on the
walls Of the we'll, he was ready to try
again, and this time his body was
lowered in the we'll head foremost.
He carried the end of an extra rope
which he fastened securely about the
child's body. '"All right, pull me out"
he called and there was deathly 81
lence as, willing hands drew him out,
closely followed by the baby, and there
were few dry eyes as the little tot,
spattered with mud, but still alive.
was placed in the arms of it's shout
ing mother Although it had been in
the we'll for nearly four hours, DR..
M. L. Cox, who had been called soon
after the accident and whose wise
counsel had much to do with the final
rescue, pronounced it's Injuries appar-
entity confined to a few bruises of no
serious consequence.
T.. The negro boy whose courage and
'heroism made the rescue possible was
not forgotten, those present at the
well at the time making up purse
Of $25, which was swelled consider
ably by the crowd in town when he
reached there, and one negro boy had
reflected undying credit on his race.
On all sides he was given unstinted
praise for his heroic act.
And while men and women told and
retold the story of the little child in
the we'll and it's rescue, father and
mother. were almost overcome with
JOY and the mother pressed her pre-,
cious babe to her bosom and lavished
the mother love upon it even as she
had never done before, and thanked
God for it's delivery.
Fortunately there was no damp
in the we'll, and that the child was
not seriously hurt by the two falls