Jasper County Democrat, Volume 15, Number 58, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 October 1912 — "BILLY” RUGH DIES. [ARTICLE]

"BILLY” RUGH DIES.

Gary Newsboy Who Sacrificed Useless Limb for Skin-Grafting, Dies From Pneumonia. Billy ’ Rugh-, the Gary newsboy who sacrificed his crippeld leg for skin grafting purposes to save the i life of Ethel Smith, a Gary young [ lady who was, so terribly burned , by a gasoline explosion some time ago while out riding with her fiance, died Friday of pneumonia that followed the amputation of his limb. His funeral Sunday afternoon was the largest ever held in l Gary and was i in the nature of a state affair, the procession being headed by the Masonic band of Whiting and the mayor city officials, steel trust officials, Baikal! Reservists, Y. M. C. A,, etc. A memorial fountain will be erected by public subscription in the business district of the steel city and a bronze tablet set up along side the building where he had his news stand. Mayor Knotts issued a proclamation making the funeral a public occasion and naming committees for receiving public subscriptions for a suitable memorial to the dead newsboy.