HERO SAVED WEE GIRL
The description of the wreck and the heartrending scenes that followed, given by Robert W. Crellin, of Silverstone, British Columbia, was graphic.
Crellin is a prosperous farmer. He was one of the heroes of the wreck. He saved Florence Barbour, the eight-year-old daughter of a neighbor, by swimming with the child on his back, and, with the aid of another rugged passenger, pulled two women and several men into a collapsible boat.
Clad only in a night shirt, Crellin said the water and air were as cold as winter, chilling all hands to the bone.
Despite the peril and exposure, flaxen-haired Florence Barbour clung to Crellin’s neck and never even cried.
“The child was pluckier than a stout man,” said Crellin. “She never even whimpered, and complaint was out of the question. You should have seen how the girls and women in the little village of Rimouski hugged her when we got ashore.
“Time and time again I feared Florence would lose her hold, and I would speak to her when my mouth and eyes were clear. Each time her little hands would clutch me tighter, until it seemed she’d stop my breath, but I welcomed the hold because it showed she had the pluck and courage needed.
“Poor child! She lost her mother and sister, and only a year ago her father, William Barbour, of Silverstone, was killed. She’s alone in the world, but Florence will never need a friend or home while I have breath in my body.”
Big and rugged as he is, Crellin’s eyes grew moist as he recalled how the child’s mother and three-year-old sister Evelyn were drowned.