News: Paul Snoke RIFE, Jr., 1935, Rocky Spring, Franklin County, PA

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BABE DROWNS IN FARM POOL

18-Months-Old Youngster Wanders From Farm Yard; Body Found in Water.

Wandering away from his home near Rocky Spring, Franklin county, about five o’clock, Wednesday 
evening, while he and two older brothers were playing, Paul Snoke Rife, Jr., 18 months old, was 
drowned in a small pool about 175 feet northwest of the house.  His body was found in two feet 
of water fifteen minutes later by his mother.

A certificate of accidental drowning was issued by Coroner A. W. Thrush, Chambersburg, after an 
investigation.

The father was in the field working and Mrs. Rife had gone to the barn to do the milking.  
Paul, Jr., was in the yard with his brothers, Donald and Conwell.  Shortly afterward he 
disappeared.

The pool, which measures about six by eight feet, is supplied by a stream that flows only in 
wet weather, and has a depth of two feet at the deepest point.  The stream is dammed to provide 
water principally for spraying potatoes.

Whether the child wandered into the stream from the bank or fell from a plank across the pool 
was not known.

The parents and the two brothers survive.

Funeral services were held at the home this morning at 10:30 with Rev. A. M. Funk officiating.  
Burial was in Salem cemetery.

The Star And Sentinel – Saturday, August 10, 1935