The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1916-08-21
GIRL WADES IN RIVER;
STEPS OFF 70 DEATH.

vi ~ UL0Ju
shore, saw the predicament OF the
4 Others, they cried for help. There
were several boating parties up and
down the river nearby, but they ignor-
! ed the calls at first. In the morning.
group had been fishing nearby, and
had cried loudly for help. Fishermen
responded and found that the people
! Were only pretending to be in danger.
| Naturally enough, they thought that
| those In the shallow water, were
doing likewise, in the afternoon,
Slater Hears Cries.
| However, Fred Slater. who was
| fishing some distance away. had not
been near enough in the morning to
pc one OF those deceived by the other
party. He heard the Oldest Mitchell
boy crying for help, and responded
at once.
4 1t was necessary to row some dis
lance, and to make his boat jump
| dlke. There was some water pouring
through the barrier, but not enough
to really float the skiff, By almost
superhuman effort Slater forced his
boat over the dixie and into the wat
! er where the children and Tigue were
Laundering.
He pulled the two boys into the
boat first. The younger one was al
most gone when Slater grabbed him.
Only his eyes and the top of his
head We're visible and the boy had
gone down twice. The older brother
was tn a little better condition, but
was fast becoming exhausted.
| He then started to the aid of Tigue.
| Idgue, as before stated, was bringing
his sister to shore, when the Clifford
girl lost her head and jumped from
| the reef into the deep water, and
clutched him about the neck, causing
him to lose his grip on his sister,
who was carried away in the current
to her death. When Slater reached
Tigue, the latter had succeeded in
J getting the girl to the reef again,
and was just pushing her to safety.
The girl was nearly spent from her
struggles, while Tigue who had been
| fighting hard, and had swallowed
great quantities OF water in his
heroic efforts to save the girls. was
as near drowned as anybody he'd
ever seen." as Slater expressed it.
| These two were pulled into the boat,
l anu ONCLy CAilO AA6uCo OOOy lAONOu,
water spurted from his mouth.
Ti9ue Becomes Unconscious.
! Tigue has only one foot, and with
this handicap was making a brave
fight to keep the little girl and him
| self afloat. He lost consciousness
| while being brought to shore
Slater backed up about thirty-five
| foot a. {y1cf M uo11rr RI
and the Clifford girl. He pulled the
girl in over the back Of the boat and
| Tigue over the side Of the craft.
Yelling to the people on the shore
Of the island, to help him get the
four ashore, Slater pulled into land
and left his load, and went immed-
lately out to drag for the body of the
Mitchell girl.
! Slater is small man in size, and
his feat yesterday in saving all four
people and getting them into his
boat and over to the mainland is one
which should entitle him to recogni-
| ton in some manner. Tigue's heroic
efforts to- save both girls is most
| worthy of notice, especially as he is
handicapped by having but one
| foot. 1t is possible that the Carnegie
| hero fund commission will be given
| a report on this drowning in the hope
| that it may see fit to reward the men
who tried hard to avert even one
| tragedy.
Call Doctor and Lunsmoter.
| DR.. F. B. Dorsey, Jr., with a Lung
motor from KeokuK, was summoned,
and gave the rescued people proper
treatment. Later they were remov-
ed to their home He stayed on the
river bank until o'clock in the hope
that he might be able to save the
girl II she were found.
Slater began dragging the river
shortly after depostting his load ON
the Illinois side and worked steadily
until Z o'clock. He stopped for
few minutes and then went back on
! the Job and worked until 2 o'clock
this morning. He was then so ex-
hausted that he had to rest for
short time.
This morning several boats were
at work dragging the river for the
body. Those searching were al
most discouraged and were about
ready to quit, when the corpse
was found about II o'clock this morn
ing. 1t came to the surface not far
from where the girl drowned and was
Immediately taken into one of the
hoats and taken to shore. Acting
Coroner Burrows was summoned. 1t
probably will not be necessary to
hold an inquest as there is no doubt
about the manner and cause of the
girls death. The body was taken to
the undertaking parlors of ]. ]. Grim
minis and Son, where it now Is.
Popular With Playmates.
Birdie Lee Mitchell was born in
browning, Missouri, July Is, 1908.
Her parents remained at Browning
about five years after her birth, and
then moved to Chillicothe, Missouri.
After living in Chillicothe about three
wears, they came to Keokuk.