The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1868-08-06


The Drowning of Mr.. Albert L. Northrop
The following graphic account of Tho
drowning Of Mr.. Albert l.. Northrop
whose death VIC noticed last week, has
been kindly furnished us by an eye wit.
ness:-
The sad circumstances attending the
death of Albert i. Northrop, were as fol-
lows: On Wednesday last, July 22d. a
company of friends was formed to visit
" the falls - called " Buckhill falls"
The company consisted of the following
! persons: Albert i. Northrop, the de-
ceased, his mother Mrs Norlhrop, Mrs.
Edward Palen his sister, Mrs. Rufus
Palen, her sister Miss Allen, Howard,
Frank, and Ida Northrop, Rev. Mr..
String, and Rev j. Mason and two daugh-
ters. This company of which the de-
ceased seemed to be the leader, started
from Canadcnsis about ii o'clock, AM,
taking with them provisions, designing to
dine at the falls, and spend the after
noon.
The party arrived at the falls about II
o'clock, and after spending some time in
admiring the romantic beauties of the
place, preparations were made to dine
Dinner being over, Albert took the fish
ing line, which bad been brought by his
brother - the only fishing line in the
company = and crossing the pile of drift
wood, which intcrvencd between, and
wading the creek, he walked along the
ledge Of the rock, near to the edge Of the
falls, where he stood fishing for about
five minutes. In elevating his line to
throw it out, the hook caught in the rock
Immediately above the falls Il suppose
about twelve feet from where he stood.
lie ascended to loosen the hook, taking
hold on the rock, or moss on the rock, :
an exceedingly hazardous undertaking of
the danger of which he had been warned.
iu descending the rock, as he reached
the place where he had been standing, he
missed lis foothold = his face being very
palc-and fell, or rather slid, with great
force into the water 10 person being
near him but the lad, his brother How
ard. lie struggled with his hands vio-
lently having hold, for au instant, of
the fishing rod. :hc other end being held
by Howard. This broke instantly He
then seized Howard's foot, of which he
suddenly let 90. His body, then, was
drawn rapidly toward the falls, as though
by some resistlcss power, when he sud-
denly turned upon his back, aud threw
up his arms, his face appearing very much
flushed, and suddenly and rapily sank
beneath the food = nor rising again un-
til he was brought up by the hook in the
hands of Mr.. George Price, who recovcd
the body, from raft constructed for the
purpose, about one hour and twenty min
utcs after he fell into the water Efforts
were Immediately made to rcsuscita.c him,
but the vital spark had fed.
Supposipg he could swim, his falling
into the water did not, at first, occasion
so much alarm; but seeing him in dan
ger the Rev. Mr.. Mason sprang from
where he was standing, opposite the falls,
called the Rev. Mr. String, and scizing
piece Of plank, pushed it with all bis
power towards Albert. This the current
carried down the stream. lie then sciz-
ed branch Of dry tree, and rushed in
to the flood, hoping TO reach him with it;
but before he could get near him, being
nearly drowned himself in the effort, Al |
bert sunk to rise DO more, until found by
Mr. Pierce as before stated. Every ef-
fort was made to save him that could be
made under the appalling circumstances.
The scene Of excitement and constcr-
nation on the occasion, can neither be
imagined nor described. AS to the cause
of his sudden sinking, after his falling
iuto the water for so sudden was it, that
not more than three minutes elapsed from
the time of his standing on the bank, or
rock, and his being buried beneath the
food i it is difficult, certainly, to deter
mine 1t has been supposed by his friends
that he was seized with vertigo" while
engaged in disentangling his line, as Oh
the last Sabbath evening, previous to
the drowning, he was compelled to leave
the services 10 the church on this ac-
count, and on the next day complained of
a similar attack. This may have been
the immediate cause. 1t is also supposed
that the strong under eddying current,
formed by the falling water from the falls,
the water being very Deep. drew him ra-
pidly under. 1t may be that both these
causes combined to produce this sad re-
suit. / can only say, it was dark myste-
rious Providence, which none can more
deeply regret than those who were com
pelled to witness the last sad scene.