On January 26 at 3 o’clock, Marilyn Janet Justis, 2, was playing in her yard with Mr. K. B. Walker’s dog, Pooch. A few minutes later she wandered away and fell into an empty cess pool. Pooch howled and danced around the mouth of the hole until he attracted the attention of Marilyn’s mother, Mrs. D. W. Justis.

With the help of a man who happened to be passing, Mrs. Justis rescued her daughter from the cess pool.

[Jal Flare, Jal, New Mexico. 6 Feb 1947.]

[Note: Marilyn Janet Justis was the granddaughter of Charles W. Justis, one of the earliest residents of the area around Jal and usually considered to be the founder of Jal.]