Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1860-07-19

biHtreskine Casualty 10 Cincinnati Young
tadies-Two Beautiful and Accomplished
Sisters Drowned. ,.-...
The Baltimore papers of last Monday con-
tain accounts OF the drowning Of Misses
Ursula and Mamie Harris, daughters Of Or.
7. B. Harris, Of this city, which occurred in
the Potomac River, on Friday Of last week.
The Sun gives the following particulars of
this distressing affair;
"Mr. Grant Harris most respectable and
worthy young gentleman, residing in the
vicinity Of the shore, some time since pur-
chased sall-boat in this city, and kept it on
the Potomoc shore for the amusement Of him
self and friends Several weeks ago the fam
lily was visited by Mr.. Morgan Harris and his
two sisters, Ursula and Mamie Harris of
Cincinnati, Ohio, all related by family ties,
and connected by the warmest friendship.
"On Friday morning, between nine and
ten o'clock, Grant Harris proposed sail on
the Potomoc, and accordingly embarked
with his nephew, Morgan Harris, and his two
nieces, Ursula and Mamie. Grant Harris,
who is said to have been very skilhul in the
management of his yacht ventured out to
the distance of nearly a half mile from the
shore, without ballast, to where the water is
above forty feet deep and runs rather wild
and treacherous. The ladies became alarmed,
and Grant Harris, laughingly reproved them.
the sight Of which the ladies rose up, which
unsettled the boat, and a gale striking her,
she was capsized.
"Now comes the most painful part of the
recital. Grant Harris clung TO his niece,
Mamie, while Morgan Harris grasped his
sister, Ursula, and all struggled to reach the
boat. After going down once, Ursula, who
was rather stout, relaxed her hold on Morgan
Harris and sank, followed by Grant and
IL III.
above the voracious waters. He clung to
the boat, and was rescued by friends from
the shore, who were witnesses Of the terrible
scene.
"The bodies had not been found up to the
hour of our latest information from that
quarter, Saturday morning,) though the
river was being dragged at every point
where there existed possibility Of finding
the bodies. =
"The deceased were aged as follows: Grant
Harris twenty-six years, Ursula twenty-one,
Mamie nineteen. Both were highly accom-
plished and much beloved.
''The melancholy occurrence has spread a
gloom over Charles County, such as has not
been witnessed for many years"
A special messenger was dispatched to this
city to deliver the melancholy Intelligence to
tire parents of the girls; and the gloom cast
upon their friends here is fully equal to that
which has fallen upon the scene OF the cas-
ualty. IL will be extremely difficult for
their daily associates, many of whom have
been yearning for their return, to realize the
dread truth that never again will they be
seen this side of the eternal home of beautiful
souls; and the spiritual shock of this sudden
separation of loved ones will not be evaded
or lessened by any philosophy.
There are griefs that will not learn verbal
expression and can not weep, and, when they
come, even the strongest faith seems too weak
to ease the burthened breast of its weight o.
woe. The beautiful, however, can not die
| and although they mingle no more will
those who loved them here, they live in thei
souls, and their faces dwell in their sleep, anC
their words echo in their hearts, and theii
loveliness is mirrored in their minds, unit
they have become part of their own exist
ence, and this memory even the liquid arm
| which stole away their lives, and in which
they so peacefully sleep, can not destroy.
The murmur of the waves seems sweeter a
[ they sing IN eternal requiem over the Gquit
I tomb of these beautiful girls, and the starr
shine. more brightly since they have beef
| added to their number. Doubtless thes,
wbite-winged Ophelias sigh in sympath,
with the sorrow their deaths have caused
| and await the closing scene of the tragedy o
life which will reunite them hereafter will
| those they loved while here.