BOY FLOATED SIX BLOCKS.
Miraculous Escape From Drowning
by Harry Palmer.
Harry Palmer, a nine year old Argentine boy, yesterday had almost a miraculous escape from death by drowning in the Kaw river near that city. while fishing with a number of companions near the foot of Olive street the boy dropped his pole into the water. In an effort to regain it he lost his balance and fell into the river. The current at this point is very swift and although the boy was unable to swim he was carried out into the middle of the river, while his frightened companions stood screaming on the bank. In his fall the boy had graspsed at his fishing pole and succeeded in catching the line. His struggles in the water wrapped this line again and again about his body.
The screams of the women and children who witnessed the accident, attracted the attention of Sam Taddler, a grocer's clerk, who lives at 230 Mulberry street, Argentine, and also George Brown, a laborer. These boys were standing near the river about two hundred yards below the Twelfth street bridge. As the boy was seen coming down the river, the rescuers threw off their clothes and sprang into the water. Taddler succeeded in reaching the boy, who was lying on his back and struggling with the current. He was carried to the bank and, almost unconscious, was removed to the home of his father, Dudley Palmer, an employe of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad, who lives at 225 South Olive street, Argentine. A physician was summoned and at a late hour last night the boy had apparently recovered from the effects of the accident. When asked how he managed to stay above the water, he answered:
"I just shut my eyes and mouth and kicked my feet and worked my elbows."
It is estimated that the boy was carried at least six blocks down the river from where he entered it.
