The Rex Ingram, communications homework help

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The Ingram CaseClaim: The Baker Hero Fund Silver Medal should beawarded posthumously to Rex Ingram.FactsOn August 10, 1929, a newspaper dispatch fromElizabeth, Tennessee, reported, “Nine boy scouts were saved from drowningin Masses Creek yesterday by Rex Ingram, local scoutmaster, when a cloudburstinundated the scout camp near here. Ingram and four boys were drowned.”Masses Creek is really a small river which drainsa wide area and is full of falls and rapids. In one section it is normally twohundred feet wide and two to four feet deep for about a quarter-mile. The boyscout camp is located in this section of the creek, about seventy-five feetfrom the north bank on a low, sparsely wooded island. The cabin is fifteen feethigh from sill to ridgepole and is still standing. Within fifty feet of thefrom door three large trees, the lowest branches of which are about twelve feetfrom the ground, are still standing.The Elizabeth meteorologist stated that on August9, nine and a half inches of rain fell between 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. Three and ahalf inches of rain had fallen in the preceding twenty-four hours. The waterlevel of Masses Creek rose sixteen feet between 9 a.m. and 10 p.m. on August 9and thereafter began to fall. This was the highest it had risen in the historyof the local weather bureau; also, the rainfall was by far the heaviest onrecord. Local records going back over a thirty-year period showed that duringJune, July, and August the creek had risen only twice to within six feet of thelevel reached on August 9, 1929, and had never exceeded a ten-foot rise fromits normal height.Rex Ingram was twenty-five years of age, a nativeof Elizabeth, and a graduate of the local high school and of the University ofTennessee, where he had played varsity football for three years. He had servedas scoutmaster for four years, 1925-29. He was also secretary of the SouthernTextile and Rayon Products Company of Elizabeth, of which his father waspresident and principal stockholder. His scout duties occupied about half histime.The Baker Hero Fund Commission sent Mr. C. V.O’Connor, a paid investigator, to Elizabeth to interview witnesses. TestimonyGeorge Young , fourteen years of age and theoldest boy in the party, said that there was a plank bridge between the islandand the north bank of the creek the stream was normally less than knee-deep atthis point. When it began to rain heavily, the boys and Ingram went into thecabin and tried to stop leaks and keep themselves and their possessions dry.Later, one of the boys reported that the creek was over the bridge. This wasabout 6:30 p.m. They then made a fire, ate supper, and prepared to spend thenight in the cabin. About 7 p.m. water began to come into the cabin. Mr. Ingramput on his coat and went out. He got the skiff and tied it to nearby tree. Asthe water continued to rise rapidly, some of the smaller boys became afraid.Ingram put the four smallest in the boat, rowed across, and landed them on thebank. He rowed both ways himself. It took about forty-five minutes because thecurrent tended to carry him downstream into the main channel. When he got back,the water was up to the boy’s shoulders, and they were all frightened. Ingramhad them get up on the roof. It was still drizzling, and Ingram feared the boyswould catch cold or slip off the roof. He took George and four boys into theskiff; George was taken along to row. Ingram fended off the logs and debriswith a long pole. They almost capsized once because of a sunken log. It wasnearly dark by this time and still raining. Mr. Lincoln met them when theylanded. George was sent to Lincoln’s home to telephone for help.H.B. Lincoln , owner of the farm across from thecamp, is sixty-five years old, afflicted with diabetes and heart trouble. Hesupplied the camp with eggs, milk, and similar foods. When the rain was nearlyover, he went down to the creek and found the first four boys starting towardhis house and Ingram about to start back. Ingram seemed tired butself-possessed. Ingram said the rest would be all right in the cabin; Lincolnagreed. He said he had never seen the water so high but expected it to go downsoon. Later, Ingram came back with the second b boatload, landing nearly aquarter-mile below the cabin. Ingram was definitely exhausted, but anxious toget back to the other boys. A short time later neighbors and city people camewith cars and turned their headlights on the cabin. The water was within a fewfeet of the ridgepole on which Ingram and the boys were resting. Then twoexpert boatmen arrived with ropes and equipment and were about to set out forthe cabin when the scout skill, with Ingram and the boys in it, was observed inthe water. The current seemed swifter than ever and the boat turned aroundseveral times. =It struck a log and sank. Ingram could be seen swimming andholding up two boys for a moment, but he soon submerged and was not seen again.J.H. Sloan , banker, president of the local BoyScout organization, said that Ingram was the regularly elected scoutmaster, andreceived no pay on his own request; that Ingram had asked for the position;that the board had recommended abandoning the camp because of its dangerous andunhealthy location, but that Ingram said he would resign if it were abandoned.Sloan said that he had warned Ingram of his responsibility in all situations;that in his opinion Ingram had not shown good judgment in remaining at camp solong after the creek rose; that his action in taking the boys across showedbravery, but poor judgment under the circumstances; Sloan admitted he had beenbeaten in a lawsuit with Ingram’s father.The local scout regulations as found in thesecretary’s minutes were typewritten. Under the duties of scoutmaster thissentence was found, “It shall be the duty of the scoutmaster to safeguardthe boys under all ordinary circumstances.” The last two words hadapparently been written over an erasure. The secretary was Arnold Thies, chiefaccountant of the Southern Textile and Rayon Products Company. He denied havingtampered with this statement and produced the penciled minutes, as of June 1,1925, showing the sentence as originally typed. Both the penciled and the typedpages were borrowed by the investigator. A documentary expert employed by theBaker Hero Fund Commission later testified that the original words on the typedcopy before erasure were “circumstances whatever.”L.A. White , athletic director of the local highschool, expert canoeist, swimmer, and life-saving expert, said he had knownIngram since he started in high school. He said Ingram was of powerfulphysique, rugged, heavy, and fearless; that he was idolized by the boys becauseof his athletic prowess; that he was not a good swimmer and knew little ofboats or rowing; that he was vain, proud, and headstrong. White said thatIngram had not been in training since he had been scoutmaster; that he wasimpatient and not resourceful and, in his opinion, ought never to have beenscoutmaster; that he had not taught the boys to swim; that in his opinion,Ingram, if exhausted as reported, should have known better than to try to takethe last load across and should have tied the boys to tree limbs, or put themin the skiff and tied it to a tree. White felt, however, that under thecircumstances, Ingram had shown considerable bravery, though the situationcould have been avoided by a scoutmaster possessing ordinary foresight and goodjudgment.Bart Kyle , the elder of the Kyle brothers, whoappeared with ropes and equipment, was questioned next. (The Kyle brothers arefishermen, expert swimmers and boatmen, and owners of a grappling outfit. Theyare often employed throughout the state to recover bodies lost by drowning.)Bart Kyle said that he and his brother were starting out in a boat to get theboys when Ingram’s boat capsized; that they were unable to reach the boysbefore they were carried away; that they went over to the cabin and found thecurrent very swift all over the island and many trees and limbs floating in thewater; that the island was composed of sand and gravel. He said that in hisopinion the creek was so high that it might have changed its main course andflowed right through the island at any time; staying on the island under thesecircumstances would have seemed as risky as trying to get to the bank. Hisyounger brother corroborated this testimony.NotesRegulations of the Baker Hero Fund Commissionlimit the scope of awards in this manner:1. To acts in which conclusive evidence may beobtained showing that a person performing the act voluntarily risked his wonlife in saving or attempting to save the life of a fellow human being, or whovoluntarily sacrificed himself in a heroic manner for the benefit of others.2. Such acts must have been performed by personswhose duties in following their regular vocations do not necessarily requirethem to perform such acts.3. Three classes of awards – a bronze, silver, andgold medals – are established. A silver medal is awarded only to those who canbe shown to have realized the risk involved before taking action.