Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1871-01-21
THE LATE MIR. WALTER.
Story OF n Lamentabie Accident
The Death Of the Eldest lest Son =. or the

Proprietor of the London Times
From the London Times. December 26.l
4 An accident occurred on Saturday af
1ternoon last at Bearwood Berkshire, tn,
seat of Mr.. Walter, M. p, which caused
the loss of very valuable life. There il
a fine lake in front of the house, extend
ing over many acres, and in parts of con
siderable depth. 1t affords in winter {
splendid skating field, and it had beer
completely frozen over by the severe
weather OF last week The family wer,
assembled in the house to spend Christ
mas together, and in the afternoon {
large party were enjoying themselves OF
the ice. Mr.. John Walter, the eldest son
who had just returned from length
ened tour, was skating with his brothers
Mr.. Arthur Walter and Mr.. Henry Wal
ter. Another brother, Mr.. Thomas Wal
ter was pushing his cousin Richard be
fore him on a chair. Mr.. Walter him
self, with some of his younger children
was upon another portion of the lake
On a sudden an alarm was raised, and
on looking around nothing could be seen
OF Mr.. Thomas Walter and his cousin
but their heads. They had fallen into
the water at one of the deepest parts Of
the lake, where the waterfowl had kept
the water open as long as possible, and
where the ice consequently was weakest.
Mr., John Walter and his two brothers
skated as rapidly as possible to the spot
and found Mr.. Thomas Walter clinging
to the broken ice with one hand, and
supporting his cousin with his olsen
gagged arm.
Mr.. John Walter instantly threw him
self on his face upon the ice, and
stretched out his arms, but he had
scarcely reached his brothers hand
when the ice gave way beneath him, and
he, too, was immersed. On seeing this,
Mr.. Henry Walter promptly followed
his brothers example,, and stretched
himself along the ice to rescue his two
brothers and his cousin. But, just as
his elder brother had grasped his hand,
the ice gave way under him also, and
four Of them were thus in the water to-
gether. Both Mr.. John Walter and his
brother Henry were excellent swimmers,
and had perfect confidence in themselves;
but their position was evidently perilous.
Meanwhile Mr.. Arthur Walter, with great
presence of mind, had skated as fast as
he could toward the home farm, calling
out as he went for assistance and for a
rope. Happily his cries were heard,
and rope was at hand. 1t was soon
brought to the spot, but too late to save
a very precious life. Mr.. John Walter
had disappeared. His brothers said he
sank almost Immediately after Mr..
Henry Walters effort had failed. 1t
is evident he had suffered one
of those seizures by which the
strongest and most experienced swim
mers are from time to time overpowered.
Such seizures are generally ascribed to
cramp, but they are probably due to
some sudden determination of the blood
to the head, and in the present instance
this was rendered the more probable by
the extreme cold of the water. The other
two brothers were much exhausted, and
M. Thomas Walter, who was the longest
immersed, says he believes he was only
kept from sinking by the sense that his
cousin was depending on him. The rope,
however, was in time to save the other
lives which were thus imperiled. The
weaker ice had be0n broken away, and
it was impossible to approach the edge
Of the water. Mr.. Thomas Walter and
his cousin were rescued by means of the
rope, and Mr. Henry Walter was extri-
Gated by a boatman. Mr.. John Walter
seems never to have risen to the surface
after he first disappeared, and his body
was only recovered after four hours
search. ,..s..s,
d tThere are circumstances which render
this calamity peculiarly startling and
distressing. About year and'-a half
ago, after an honorable course at Elton
and at Oxford, Mr.. John Walter started
on what is now the grand tour to 60
around the world, and see all forms of
human civilization. He went by the
Baltic to st. Petersburg, and thence
across Russia to the Caucasus, and
thence to Constantinople and the Holy
Land. He proceeded through the Suez
canal and the Rea sea to India, and saw
the principal cities of our Eastern EN-
pire. After visiting Australia he re-
turned by China and Japan to the North
American Continent, and traversed the
United States from west to east. He
was expected home some days before
Christmas, and his friends had been joy
fully awaiting his return. He reached
home safely on Thursday evening, to the
extreme delight of his family, and to the
apparent fulfllment Of their brightest
hopes. Within forty-eight hours he has
been snatched from them forever on this |
side of the grave. 1t is one of those dis
pensations of Providence of which we
can see nothing but the mystery, and |
which it needs the strongest faith to sup |
port with resignation. For private |
calamity, it is hard to conceive a greater.
Mr.. John Walter was twenty-five years |
of age. AS we have said, he had passed |
an honorable, as well as blameless, ca
..,. n a Z. h.,r n nd % q sfndant