REMARKABLE RESCUE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 1206, 10 February 1914, Page 4

REMARKABLE RESCUE.

LAD SAVES HIS FATHER

W. Hilcben, a plumber, and bis son William Hitchen, were engaged in erecting a windmill over a well some three miles from the town of Gigandra, N.S.W., recently, and were connecting a pipe below the surface, when a staging collapsed, and both fell to the bottom of the well, a distance of tw’enty feet. On the way down they crashed through four sets of staging, and eventually fell into five feet of water. After striking the water the lad looked for his father, aud, not seeing him, concluded that he was under the water. He found him lying at the bottom unconscious, aud immediately got his head above water, and propped him up in a corner with pieces of w r ood. He then determined to seek assistance. The only way out of the well was by climbing up the piping, which he succeeded in doing after a hard struggle. When he reached the top of the piping he was still eight feet from the surface, which be had no meaus ol reaching, owing to the

collapse of the staging. The lad. however, balanced himself on the pipe, which brought his hands about three feet from the surface, and, making a desperate leap, he succeeded in catching a piece of wood placed across the top. As soon as he pulled himself clear, the lad harnessed a horse which was handy, and drove into town, aud then to the racecourse, where he obtained the assistance of the police and a number of civilians, who proceeded to the well in a motor car. On arrival two young men went down, and, with the aid ot ropes, rescued Hitchen, who was found to have sustained severe injuries to his back. The lad also received the doctor’s attention, and was found to be suffering from a number of cuts and bruises.