On November 26, 1874, a seaman fell overboard from the cross-jack or mizen-topsail yardarm of H.M.S. ' Raleigh,' and Sub-lieutenant Rogers gallantly jumped after him, but the man in his fall must have struck the side of the ship, for he im mediately sank. A boat was lowered and went to his assist ance, but on approaching Mr. Rogers he cried out that there was a cap floating, and ordered the boat to the place to search for the man. Unhappily no one could be seen, and the boat returned to Mr. Rogers, who had been swimming about and waiting his time to be picked up.
Mr. George W. Bennett, a landowner at Henbury, near Avoca, Tasmania, on Monday, August i6, 1875, saved three persons from drowning in the South Esk River, then flooded and running some feet over a bridge which three persons attempted to cross in a gig. They were soon in peril, and Mr. Bennett seeing this at once plunged into the river, swam seventy yards to the spot, and brought them safely to shore one at a time. From the extreme coldness of the water, it being winter-time, he was completely exhausted and benumbed, so that with great difficulty he reached a house, some two miles distant.
In the year 1879 the body of a native woman was being taken to a ghat on the Ganges for cremation, but showing symptoms of returning animation, the natives threw her into the river, being under the impression that she was possessed with an evil spirit. Mr. B. K. C. Chuckerbutty, a native of Calcutta, hearing the cry of ' Bhutt Bhutt ' (goblin), ran to the spot, and not being able to obtain assistance from a concourse of affrighted natives, promptly plunged into the water and swam out to the assistance of the woman. The place was a dangerous whirlpool, twenty-five feet deep. On effecting the rescue he ran very great risks, not only from the well-known eddies of the Hooghly, but from becoming entangled and having his hands violently clutched by the drowning woman.
Several gentlemen were proceeding by country boat from Moonshegunge to Silchar when the boat struck on a rock in the centre of the river. The gentlemen succeeded in landing safely, but the boat had to be abandoned Immediately after wards a large native boat with coolies on board struck the hidden rocks at the same place and all the crew were immersed. Lieutenant-Colonel (then Major) H. W. J. Senior, Indian Staff Corps, immediately swam out and succeeded in rescuing six persons, but not until he had repeatedly swum to and from the bank. He encountered great personal risk in venturing into
the midst of twenty-five terrified men and women, most of them totally unable to help themselves. The Barock is a large and fast-running stream, and, like most Indian rivers, abounds in under-currents.
Constable John Jenkins, who was on duty on Waterloo Bridge on July 14, 1885, at 2.45 A.M., saw a man mount the parapet of the bridge and throw himself into the river. Without hesitation the constable unfastened his belt and jumped after him, and, notwithstanding a determined resistance on the part of the would-be suicide, succeeded in seizing and supporting him, until both were picked up some distance down the river by a boat sent from the Thames police station.
The danger in this case may be estimated when it is said' that the height jumped was forty-three feet, and the tide was running at the rate of six miles an hour. A thick mist also covered the river.
On January 28, 1883, whilst H.M. schooner ' Harrier' was anchored in Pomony Harbour, Johanna Island, William Pond, one of the seamen, fell overboard. The night was very dark, and the force of the wind so strong as to render the splash almost inaudible to those on board ; but William Simpson, captain of the foretop, on looking over the side heard a gurgling sound, and surmising that a man had fallen overboard, at once plunged in, found the man, and supported him in the water for some time, until hauled on board.
The danger incurred appears to have been very great, as the coast abounds with sharks, a large one having been seen alongside of the ship the previous day. In addition to the Stanhope medal, a silver one was also awarded for this gallant act.
Whilst the s.s. Rewa ' was proceeding through the Gulf of Aden on September x3, 1883, a lascar who could not swim fell overboard. Mr. Walter Cleverley, who was one of the passengers, promptly plunged into the water from the top of the poop, a height of thirty feet, and swam to the man, whom he assisted to a life-buoy which had been previously thrown overboard. At the time the vessel was going at the rate of fourteen and a half knots an hour ; the danger incurred was extreme, as the sea thereabouts is infested with sharks. Mr. Cleverley was forty minutes in the water before a boat could reach him, and both were got safely on board. For this brave act he had the honour of receiving the Royal Humane Society's Stanhope medal. He was a member of the Portsmouth Swimming Club.