The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1913-01-10

about him rope strong enough to
bear his weight and overcome the sue
ton, but neither of them had dared go
near him for fear of being sucked
into the same position as he. 1t was
upon this information that l realized
fully that Mabel had called upon me
to probably sacrifice my life In at
tempting to save that of her husband.
On reaching the scene Of the trou-
BILE the group there all turned toward
me. Mabel was present, and when
my eyes met hers l was at loss to
understand the expression there was
in them. l had expected to see a pa
thetic appeal. Whether she realized
that such an appeal would be asking
me to risk my own life. perhaps give
1t, for her husband, | did not know.
nor do l know now. She simply looked
at me. Perhaps she considered her
telegram an appeal which should not
be repeated.
l put ON a divers outfit, and a two
inch cable was looped under my arms.
was lowered some distance from the
hole through which the water was flow
ing and walked toward It till l began
and saw Granger lying partly across
the hole. After few moments
thought ] sIgnaled to be brought to
the surface. On reaching II | called
for another two inch rope-besides the
one under my arms-looped at the end,
would have preferred wire rope. but
1t was not at hand.
what are you going to do2" l was
asked
There's no way to save him but to
go into the suction myself. place the
rope under his arm and signal you to
draw us both up"
You'll both PERISH was the re-
Spouse.
Mabel was looking at me, and my
eyes met hers We understood each
other, though not word was spoken.
But what passed between us? All,
that only we and the Lord knowl
Hanging the loop Of the duplicate rope
ON my shoulder, | went down again. |
had advanced but a few inches nearer
to Granger than before when l was
caught In the suction, and 1t seemed
that mountain was on me. was
pulled down on TO him, and so strong
was the current that | could not move
the rope from my shoulder to put II
around him The only motion l could
make was a lateral one with the cur
rent. Placing my hands and knees
against him, | managed to move my
body so that my shoulder, on which the
rope rested. was near the top of Gran
gers head. | moved SO that 1t slipped
off and by great effort guided 1t 80
that 1t went down over his head. He was
lying on his back, and 1t would go no
farther. but | managed to insert my
knee between him and the masonry
beneath him. and this enabled me to
slip the rope down nearly to his waist.
By succession Of efforts | got 1t be-
low both hands. so that when moved
back again toward his armpits 1t left
the arms free.
| had now done all could do. The
question remained would the rope
stand the strain of hosting him-would
As to myself. only the first of these
questions pertained. l was In my full
strength. Granger just before my sec
ond descent had made feeble pull on
the cord
| gave the signal and waited for the
final act In the play for two lives. l
felt strain on the rope under my
arms which soon grew to be terrific.
signaled on Granger's cord The strain
on me ceased, and the rope under him
frightened. For time i saw no move
ment IN him; then | could discern one
similar to the minute hand Of a clock
He was slowly sliding away from over
the hole. If he were removed aud re-
manned I would be sucked into his
position.
A machine on the capstan principle
had been provided which would enable
those above to pull us both up II the
ropes would stand the strain. / pulled
my own rope and Changers at the
same time. There was halt. and In a
few minutes the strain on both of us
recommended. The ropes slanted. and
we very slowly began to move horizon
tally. | knew from the strain, which
was intensely painful. that only the
stoutest rope could stand 1t. We
moved so slowly that | would not have
known we moved Mt all had | not noted
our positions In relation to the mason
ry Suddenly the upper part Of our
bodies passed beyond the suction col
umn of water, and the strain was per-
ceptibly lessened. Then 1t diminished
rapidly, and we began to rise.
There was no shout when we reached
the surface. for It was not known
whether we were alive or dead. Those
present soon knew that ! lived, for
motioned them TO attend to Granger.
When his helmet was unscrewed his
wife removed II. Her head dropped
on his breast. and | knew that he was
dead.
No one could do enough for me 10
show appreciation of the risk ! had
taken to save a fellow man. When
Mabel and | parted she conveyed her
thanks by pressure of the hand with
out looking at me. heard nothing
from her and did not go to see her for
a year The day after the anniversary
of her being made widow called
upon her What passed between US
would not think of transcribing here
but within few months she gave me