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Show Marooned Fisherman Battles Sudden Flood GOOD fisherman's fisher-man's luck almost al-most turned into tragedy for Wilbur Wil-bur M. Mosley, of Mount Airy, N. C. Ignoring a heavy rainstorm, he got his tackle and went late in the afternoon to a favorite fa-vorite spot on the Ararat River. WilburM. Mosley He fished from a sandbar in the middle of the river. The bites were coming fast and he soon forgot the passage of time. When darkness fell, with the rain still pouring down, he continued his sport Three hours later Mosley gathered gath-ered up his equipment and catch and prepared to wade ashore. He found he was trapped. The violent rainstorm rain-storm had flooded the entire section. On either side of his "island" raced a swirling, boiling current a hundred hun-dred yards wide. The sand bar on which he stood had shrunk, he discovered, to a small strip. The water was rising so fast he knew he could not stay there. He had a flashlight in which he had put fresh batteries just before he set out. With this, he found a long, stout pole. Armed with light and pole, he started out into the current, taking a chance on getting to shore. He gripped his pole and held to his light, trying to brace himself against the flood. Only desperate maneuvering enabled him to make any progress. Several times he went completely under water. "Every few yards I thought it was all over," Mosley said. "Each time I managed to keep on my feet and hang to my pole. I could do that only because my bright light showed every whirlpool and rock. I worked along, actually foot by foot, through the whole hundred yards of current. When I got where there was solid ground under my feet once more, I was so cold I was almost helpless." Mosley found a house near the river where he got thawed out and dried his clothes. The flood completely com-pletely submerged his "island" shortly after he got ashore. |