St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1873-06-06
Two lien Drowned.

We copy from the ESSEX County Her
aid the follow lnG accounts II the drown
iug oi tW0 men 1t GIildhall la. week :
Am accident. resulting IN the death nt
Joseph Chase. of the linn of Robert
Chase \ Co.. and Bcui. +. Poole. son
of Jonathan Poole. j., occurred here at
about >iN ociuck on 'IUc>'ial afternoon.
Mr.. CHASE. tnr the purpose ot moving
his hargc above the dam. had erected
:, caI,>tnu ou the New liaup>hirc side
of the CommrcyicuT river mc.u the end
of the toll hIidg'. and attached the
barge To it hl - line. ihv hnigc is
Soruc Thirty tc,i hong and twelve feet
wide. The rjrrlcri Of the iiNci. i very
rapid al thi~ place. he w.tt,I being ~uf-
ticicutlA high to cover the dam. MAX
ing no hIc;tk where it flows over. Up
on this barge were Nj Chase. Mr.
Poole l.. Il. Stuart, Rullin Brown aud
Willie Poole. and fastened To- the halgc
hv a short huc WAS Il small >kiii. ~
the Large W,I> east oil from the shore.
It WAS quickly carried to ;hr middic ut
the lINrr lay Tie force of the current and
was slowly drawn up the >trcam hy
winding up the rope around the cap
stan. A. the forward end reached the
dam the water broke over il. the men
1t the tim" being on the rcaI end The
force of ih. current immediately Carl
eel it under, but not until Chase. fore
seeing the accident. had time to cut the
skin loose. When the harg" went dow.
the occupants were ri once swept out,
and all were struggling III the rapids
MT. Chase unfortunately hccHmc ell
tangled III piece of line which WAS at
taCh"d To the barge. The men in
charge of the capStan >ccin" the acct
dcnt let 90 the line which held the barge
and allowed il To float down the stream.
" soon ~ the strain at the line on the
rap>tau WAS l"u>rucd he barge Heated.
hII 1t was filled with water. MI Chase
WAS then seen for tHC last time Strur-
Cling IN the wafer below the barge. aud
~ II toatcd down stream II went over
him, and held 10y the line in which he
WAS thus entauglcd he met his death.
In the mean time the others had made
tol the >kitf' which in some way WAS
capSiIcd and filled with water. All
succeeded i'll reaching it with the ex-
ccption of RoIlin Brown. he finding
himself sinking threw up his arms.
''"'ll' >'ClliS HIS >I8il Oh ul>llt -. LETT
the skiff 1" which he WAS clinging. and
went I" his assistance: both went I'M
der once, hut ruSc again to the surface.
when 10y great effort they reached the
boat. to which they chung aS it tloatcd
down stream. franklin Poole at the
first sinking of the barge went down.
but coming up. succeeded in reaching
the boat. but being seized with Il fit of
coughing, and doubtless strangIed by
the water, he fell from the boat and
sank to rise no more. His body up to
Friday morning had not been recover
ed, though diligent search has been
made fur it. Chase was found under
the barge with the line wound around
one leg below the knee. which had
been drawn 81 tight us To plainly mark
his leg through his clothing Every eff
tort was made to reSuScitatc him but
III vain life was extinct when he was
taken from the water. He was under
water some 10 to Is minutes. and had
III some manner received ii hIuiSc, the
marks of which were plainly visible on
his forehead. Those who sought safe
ty on the skin. with the exception of
Poole. were rescued after having drift
ed about 30 OF 10 rods down the stream
in the current. That any were saved
from the pelilouS position is the chief
cause of wonder.