The  Shelbyville  Republican
Wednesday April 18, 1945
Page 1 column 4
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MRS. BOBBITT  ESCAPES  INJURY
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Nurse's Car Swept From Ford of Little Blue
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          Mrs. Mabel Bobbitt, Shelby County public health nurse, narrowly escaped injury or possible death by drowning yesterday afternoon when her small coupe was swept by the flooding waters of Little Blue river from the ford which at normal water level connects the east end of Franklin St. with the Kennedy park grounds.
          A rescue was effected through the quick work of a 16-year old youth, Billy Hewitt, who lives near the scene of the accident, the boy's uncle, Virgil Neeb, of 326 north Vine St., and several other men.
          Mrs. Bobbitt, who has regularly crossed the stream recently by way of the ford, said that since the runway was not blocked, she believed that it would be safe to cross.  Apparently, she had not noticed how the river had risen in the last day.  She started driving across from the park side toward east Franklin St., but when her auto reached a point midway between the river banks, the powerful current swept the machine off the raised fording place and partly over the dam, where it lodged at an angle on the brink of the dam on the downstream side.
          Perched at a precarious slant, the automobile swayed gently as the rushing water roared against it.  The Hewitt youth made his way to the car with a rope secured about his waist and held by several men on the bank.  His uncle, Mr. Neeb, then made his way to the car.  After several efforts, Mr. Bobbitt was helped from the car and then carried by Neeb to safety.  Her most serious injuries were a pair of wet feet.
          Two others who went into the river to aid in the rescue were a school boy, Lewis Williams, of 524 east Broadway, and Wilburn Aulby, of R.R. 4, Shelbyville, an employee of the city street department.
          Two wrecker trucks were brought to the scene by  William "Jack" Robinson  in getting the auto out of the river.  It was necessary to stretch a steel cable from one bank to the other so that another cable could be attached to the vehicle.  Hobart Dunn, colored, who had witnessed the rescue and subsequent efforts to retrieve the auto, finally waded out along the cable and connected chains to the second cable in order to pull the Bobbitt machine to the bank.
Contributed by Phyllis Miller Fleming

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