Show ADVENTURERS ADVENTURERS' CLUB HEADLINES FROM THE LIVES o OF F P PEOPLE E 0 P L ELI LIKE KEY YOURSELF 0 U R S ELF t Strewn Stream o of 0 Death By y FLOYD GIBBONS Famous Headline Hunter EL LO EVERYBODY HELLO Maurice Dunford of Chicago is today's distinguished adventurer He was a volunteer fire fighter and smoke eater in the little town of Russelville Ark in 1929 when his adventure happened It It was a quiet warm summer afternoon in the little town that nestled in a valley at the foot of th the Ozarks close to the bank of the Arkansas river Every one was dozing and taking life lile easy but suddenly the fire siren let out a shrieking blast that brought the whole town to life Maury made a rush for the station Firemen from all over the town were running to the same point They poured into the building and the big truck rolled out even before the sound of at the siren had died away The burning building was only two blocks from rom the fire house It was wasa a small dwelling and the fire was in the attic Maury says that smoke ke was pouring from fr m under every shingle He grabbed a line from a coupling and went around to the back of the house looking for an opening opening open open- ing irig through which to get at the fire Then seeing no openings he went into the house dragged the hose up through a small trap door in the ceiling and crawled with it into the Hie attic Fighting Fire in the Attic The Thc heat and smoke were terrific he says I r started creeping forward so I could get at the seat of the blaze Water was now belching belch ing ing- through the nozzle in my hands and the boys outside were playing r T AMaury A- A Maury 1 couldn't even move a a. muscle He couldn't even turn around another hose The water from that hose was drenching me but it was doing little toward putting out the fire The little attic was fairly flooded with water now What's more that water was hot It felt as if it was cooking my knees says Maury for I was kneeling g in it it between the sills with my head bent down downto to my chest to keep as much smoke out of my lungs as possible And then it happened He De felt as If something had grabbed him all at once He lIe tried to look Jook around around and and found Cound that he He simply couldn't move a muscle His whole body was stiff It wasn't exactly trembling but it felt feU to Maury as if something was trembling inside of him giving him the shaking up of his life All at once he realized what it was An electric electric elec elec- fric shock Paralyzed by Electric Current Where was the shock coming from He had stepped on no wires There wasn't any wiring anywhere within ten feet of him It took Maury Maurya a minute or two to figure that out The hose That stream of ot water had found a bare electric wire somewhere back there in the smoke and flame The electricity was traveling down the thc stream to the nozzle and Maury was gripping that nozzle with both hands His wet clothes and the water soaked floor were completing the hook up that was sending the voltage through his body He tried to move the hose hose divert divert the stream of at water away from that wire wire but but he couldn't budge an inch He tried to drop the nozzle but for the life of him he couldn't let go of it He tried to use his voice and voice and that worked Somehow his vocal cords weren't paralyzed by bythe bythe the thc flow of electricity and he shou shouted ed at the top top- of his lungs Shut Shutoff Shutoff Shutoff off the juice he hc was yelling But he didn't think any anyone one could hear I him over the bedlam and confusion of sounds that came up to him from below The pain was getting terrible he says Every joint joint joint- every muscle muscle every every bone in my body was aching Smoke was choking choking blinding blinding me I was held there by that shock as immovable immovable immovable able as if U Id I'd been chained there What was I to do What was going to happen to me Was I going to stand there until the fire crept over and burned me alive Or would I succumb to the shocks of the electricity before the fire firc reached me Some One Pulled the Switch Maury knew that even house current could kill a man under the proper conditions and he was sure that current would kill him if he held heldon on long enough The pain was getting worse by the minute He felt as if he were about to lose consciousness but he be fo fought that giddy feeling that was making his head spin round and round Once he let go of himself w well himself well ll-he ll he knew that would be the end And then all of a sudden Maury felt his body relax He tried to move move found found that he could could and and turned the nozzle upward Some one downstairs had pulled the main switch shutting off all the current in inthe inthe inthe the building And hed he'd d done ne It just in time to save Maury from collapse col col- col lapse lapse and and probably from death Says h he The Th force orce of at the upturned stream of water battered through the roof root Shingles went flying Sunshine came pouring in And I felt like a million dollars Copyright Copyright Service |