Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 79, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 April 1912 — CEDAR LAKE HOTEL KEEPER KIT DEATH [ARTICLE]

CEDAR LAKE HOTEL KEEPER KIT DEATH

In Attempt to Rescue Man Who Worked Fer Him—Drowned fa l.ttfca Sunday Mentos. Edwin Ploetz, 50 years old formerly of Chicago, a wealthy hotel keeper had resort owner at Cedar Lake, Ind., gave up his life Sunday in a hazarded effort to rescue Adam Mazar, a hired band, who fell into*an ice channel while walking across the lake. A frantic wife and her son figured in a thrilling series of mishaps attendant to futile efforts directed toward the rescue of Ploetz, after he had met peril in his attempt to save the life of his employe. Mrs. Ploetz and her son Walter were standing on the shore of the big lake when they were attracted to the scene of commotion several hundred feet from the shore. Mr. Ploetz had preceded them a few mjnutes in a walk along the lake /rout and In a moment It became apparent to them that he had gjbne to the aid of a man in distress. Both proceeded hurridly to his assistance. They had gone only a short distance when Mr. Ploetz suddenly disappeared beneath the surface of the ice. The son, fa bis desperation to drag his father from the water, ventured too far on the crumbling ice. He, too, plunged into the channel. Only the warning cries of the imperiled men prevented Mrs. Ploetz from advancing to a point where the ice would not have borne her weight. She rushed to the shore, obtained fi rope and threw it to the men, who In the meantime had become almost exhausted through their efforts to draw themselves over the edge of the ice. The son succeeded in climbing out of the water with the aid of the rope. The father’s grip weakened and just as the hoy reached a point of safety Mr. Ploetz fell backward, mink below and was carried Into a Jam of lea Every possible effort was made to reach bis, but not until several boars later was Ploetz’s body recovered by Deputy Coroner Houkand Sheriff Tbontas Grant. Mazar, fa the meantime, contil 'ed clinging desperately to the floundering cakes pf ice, powerless to lead a band in aiding the man who lost his life in attempting to relieve him. Two boors after be had fallen into the channel he was dragged from the water, more dead than alive, by John Kennedy and John White, who carried a boat to the edge of the ice and rowed to his side. Mazar, though in a precarious condition, will probably recover.