SAVED LIVES

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22582, 10 March 1948, Page 7

SAVED LIVES

BRAVERY RECOGNISED SOCIETY ISSUES AWARDS THREE N.Z. RECIPIENTS (P.A.) CHRISTCHURCH, March 9. For bravery she showed at the disastrous fire at the Franz Josef Hotel annexe on July 5, 1947, when four young women were burned to death, Miss Betty June Strode, aged 21, has been awarded a letter of commendation by the Royal Humane Society. Despite the smoke which filled the upstairs portion of the building, Miss Strode ran upstairs in her night attire and aroused the guests. A bronze medallion has been awarded to Mrs. Margaret Southon, Buffer, for saving the life of a 3-year-old boy Fredrick Hnrbey, at Buffer on July 20, 1944. The boy was running along' the line in front of a train which had no chance of stopping in time. Mrs. Southon left her home near the line, caught the boy and threw herself and the lad into a ditch just as the engine passed. v The society has awarded a certificate of merit to Mr. John Bradshaw, farmer aged 20. Whitianga, Mercury Bay. During a swimming race across the Whitianga harbour on January 1, 1947, Mr. Trevor Townsend, aged 20, One Tree Hill, Auckland, was taken by cramp.

Mr. Bradshaw, who was swimming 20 yards ahead, returned through a rough sea and held Mr. Townsend’s head above the water until a dinghy reached the men.