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Show I I BLIND PROVIDEHCE Dead hAun Upsets Boat MILWAUKEE, Wis. The most unusual boating accident of the year was caused by a dead man. And a 72-year-old blind man was credited with saving the life of his nephew. It happened like this: Le Roy Scott, 61, of Woodstock, 111., John Hill, 72, and his nephew, Ronald Hill, 54, both of Milwaukee, were visiting in Palmyra, Wis. The three obtained a 14-foot rowboat and went blue gill fishing on Blue Spring lake, about two miles southwest south-west of Palmyra. "At first we just rode around the lake," said Ronald Hill. "I operated the outboard motor. Le Roy was sitting in the bow seat and John, who is blind, was in the middle mid-dle seat. Then we anchored and started fishing." Boat Capsizes A half hour went by. Ronald and John Hill caught a few pan fish. "Suddenly Le Roy just slumped over," Ronald Hill said. "He didn't say a word. His body stayed tn the boat, but his head went into the water and his shoulders were over the side of the boat. The boat tipped that way, and it shipped water. My uncle and I leaned the other way. Then the boat capsized." cap-sized." Ronald Hill could not swim a stroke. Blind John Hill, once was a strong swimmer, but had not been in the water for years. Both came up sputtering. John grabbed in his world of darkness and . found the boat. Ronald was fortunate enough to grasp it when he first came up. They hung on, but the boat kept turning. Went Down Once "My uncle saved my life, not once but several times," Ronald said. "I lost my grip on the boat a couple of times, but I hung onto him until I got back to it. Once I went down, but my uncle reached down, grabbed me by the arm and pulled me to the surface." There was no sign of Scott. His body disappeared when the boat tipped over. The men were in the water about 20 minutes. Several boats were near but none answered their call for help. Finally a boat reached them, but did not have room to take them aboard. The Hills hung onto the gunwales and were pulled to shore. Firemen and volunteers found Scott's body about half an hour later. The coroner reported no water in Scott's lungs, indicating that he had died of a heart attack befora touching the water. |