New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-07-12
FLOATING IN THE SEWER.
THE BODY OF THE SUICIDE RECOVERED.
HE WAS THOMAS KENNEY. WHO HAD SAVED
TWENTY PEOPLE FROM DROWNING.

TWENTY PEOPLE FROM DROWNING.
The body Of the man who on Wednesday night de-
beraely lifted the cover from the manhoe at twenty
sixthst and Thrt-ave. and plunged into the sewer
with the cry Of " Here gOes' was found yesterday
morning at O'Clock at the mouth OF the East Twenty
third-st. sewer. The body Immediately identified
rs that Of Thomas Kenney, OF No. 415 East Twenty
secondst., who for fifteen years had worked in the
lime and brick yards of Candee d smith at Twenty
sixthst. and East River Thomas Kenney had lived
in the neighborhood Of the East River Twenty fifth
ST. all his nfe, and had gained a wide reputation a
life saver having saved the lives Of twenty people
in the course OF eighteen years lie had received sill
medal from the feSavlng Benevolent Association
Of this city, whose Offices at NO. 81 waIlst, for
saving the life Of Bridget Donnely in 1883.
The body was found by Foreman Thomas Little and
his assistants, William Maher and Patrick Butterfly
Little had formed theory that II the body was found
all In the sewer it would be in the section running
from Avenue and East Twenty hird-st 10 the river
At O'Clock yesterday morning Little and his as
sistants resumed their search. At that time the tide
was low. that the could 20 some distance into
the mouth Of the sewer, which contained considerable
deposit of mud which covered by foot Of water
\ number Of logs had been arranged at the mouth o.
the Twenty thi.d-st. sewer, 10 catch the body
If it shoIld float down.
About O'Clock. while the men were dragging iron
hooks through the mud, thinking the body might
have been imbedded there, dark object noticed
floating slowly down from the upper part Of the sewer
toward the river On being taken out into the light
il was found 70 be a human body and quickly
identified as being that OF Thomas Kenney. As there
were shoes found the feet Of the corpse and as
the shoes Of the man who jumped into the sewer
Wednesday night had been taken of and left in the
sewer it was reasoned that the suicide and
Kenney were the In the afternoon the
wife of Thomas Kenney went to the police
station In East Twenty-secOnd-st and there
recognized the shoes Of the suicide being
those Of her husband, thus completing the chain Of
evidence The body was towed up to the MOI que at
the foot of East Twenty-sxt-st where it win remain
until to-day when it VIII be buried. There a num-
Der of scratches and cuts the face and which
are supposed to re the work Of rats.
From Kenney's employers, Candce smith, it was
learned that in Tile habit Of going OF pro
tracted -sprees' when he thought the occasion de-
manded it. Kenney had not been at work since the
Fourth Of July and had been drinking heavily from
that time until July 2. the time Of his strange disap
pearance. Il IS thought by those who knew him best
that he committed suicide while in a IL OF dClirum
tremens and that the peculiar method Of jumping into
sewer was suggested by the fate Of Callahan. whose
body was recovered few weeks from the sewer at
almost the exact spot in Twenty-dfth-st. at which
Kenney jumped.
Thomas Kenney was thirtyfve years old. He leaves
wife but no children, his only child having died some
three years ago lie lad attained a wide celebrity as
Hfe-saver and expert swimmer. II is said
that he had saved over twenty lives and
had received between $3.50 and $500 from the
LfeSaving Benevolent Association besides several
medals one Of his most notable rescues was that Of
Fireman Wilson who while working on the steamer
Fidelity then lying OF the pier al ka7t twenty sixth
ST. fell into the river kenney promptly jumped IN
after him. As 10 night and bitterly cold al the
time, il was with grea difficulty that the rescuer
and tile rescued helped upon the pier
Al another time kenncy showed hls ability as a
swimmer bv diving b. the bottom If the East River
O1csr from the United Sta.es Warshp ianuc while
stepping from lalHch u the pier al Twenty sXt-st
dropped bis sword Into tn river. Kennedy Wac sent
for and diving into the succeeded in recovering
the sword, although the bottom Of the river
twenty five feet below the surface