10-year-old Claude Pugh, described as "a newsboy and small for his age," was sitting on the stone rim of the Hebe Fountain in Memphis' Court Square, playing with a toy boat in the water on August 26, 1884. The fountain had been installed in 1876. He leaned too far over and tumbled in, and since the bottom of the fountain was sloped, and slippery from algae, he couldn't regain his footing. At the time, the basin was six feet deep and there was no railing. "There were a number of men, women, and children in the square at the time," reported the Memphis Daily Appeal, "and not an effort was made to save him. Stalwart men did not move a muscle, but stood silently by with staring eyes and gaping mouths." He struggled for several minutes and then went under. When a fireman was finally called to the scene, it took him more than 15 minutes to recover the boy's body from the water. Described as "the only son of a widow of good family and her chief pride and comfort," he was buried in Elmwood Cemetery.
10-year-old Claude Pugh, described as "a newsboy and small for his age," was sitting on the stone rim of the Hebe Fountain in Memphis' Court Square, playing with a toy boat in the water on August 26, 1884. The fountain had been installed in 1876. He leaned too far over and tumbled in, and since the bottom of the fountain was sloped, and slippery from algae, he couldn't regain his footing. At the time, the basin was six feet deep and there was no railing. "There were a number of men, women, and children in the square at the time," reported the Memphis Daily Appeal, "and not an effort was made to save him. Stalwart men did not move a muscle, but stood silently by with staring eyes and gaping mouths." He struggled for several minutes and then went under. When a fireman was finally called to the scene, it took him more than 15 minutes to recover the boy's body from the water. Described as "the only son of a widow of good family and her chief pride and comfort," he was buried in Elmwood Cemetery.
