Lorenzo Snow's Miraculous Preservation from Drowning

Thirty-six years prior to the 1901 visit, Lorenzo Snow, E. T. Benson, A. L. Smith, and George Q. Cannon were capsized in the surf at Lahaina. While the others were saved, Lorenzo Snow was in imminent danger of losing his life but was preserved through the providence of God.

The incident occurred on March 31, 1864, while the party was attempting to reach shore at Lahaina. After the boat capsized, Elder Lorenzo Snow was discovered by a Hawaiian diver, brought to the surface, and carried to shore. William Cluff and Alma Smith placed him across a barrel to drain water from his lungs and massaged his chest and arms with strong-smelling oil. When resuscitation efforts seemed futile and a bystander declared it impossible to save him, Cluff, recalling his own near-death experience at Haun's Mill as a child, persisted by placing his mouth over Snow's and blowing into his lungs until he heard a rattle and eventual groan. Upon reviving, Snow confirmed he knew Cluff would not forsake him.