St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-07-05
THREE WERE DROWNED.
Minnetonka Waters Swallow
Trio of Young ST. Paul People.

Three more victims have been Swal-
lowed by the rapacious waters of Min
netOnka. One of the faireSt holidays
that ever daWned in Minnesota was
turned into day of sorrow at the lake.
The angel of death descended upon
merry party out for short vacation
from the serious cares of life. Three
Iifeless bodies and three darkened
homes are the results OF the visitation.
These were Snatched from the midst
of life and happiness yesterday after
noon at Spring Park. Minnetonka:
LAURA LEWIS, of 22O West Thirteenth
street. st. Paul.
IDA SWANSON, TAI st. Peter street, ST. Paul.
RUFUS HOGAN, 373 North Washington
street, st. Paul.
Yesterday morning merry party of
sixteen young people took the Great
Northern train at st. Paul for Miune-
tonka. At Minneapolis they were
joined by four others. These are the
ones that were i'll the gathering:
Rufus Hogan, George Hogan, Annie
: Hogan, W. T. Lewis, John Lewis, Will
lam Peterson, Oscar Landell, Robert
Jamison, Albert RoSenQuiSt, Charles
Hooper, Misses Ida Swanson. Laura
Lewis, Rose Netterberg. Johanna Mum
son, Frances Hatch. of ST. Paul; Misses
Gala Clouder, Amelia and Josephine
Croonquist, John Shutter, of Mime
-apotis.
They reached Spring Park little
after IL o'clock. After spending a
couple of hours'in wandering along the
shore and through the woods, enjoying
all the delights of the beautiful day and
ftlxy .fIQaiHnH IN, rn arf
upon hesfai 4 Blossom of the lake, treach-
erOuSly inviting in its calmneSS. The
2 twenty young people took five boats,
four being in each boat. The party COM
posed of the Lewis anu Swanson girls
and Rufus Hogan AMI Oscar Lundell
had a large boat. heavy and cumber-
some. They returned to the shore and
procured lighter boat, one of the nar-
row, double-ended pattern. 1t was
good~boat. but exceedingly easily cap
sized. With that they rowed out about
all eighth of a mile OH Byer's bay. They
had not been out more than half an hour
when the people who were on shore saw
the bottom of the boat turned upwards.
That meant a loss of life. They were SO
far out that no one could tell exactly
how it happened, and the sole survivor
of the boat load was so daZed when res
cued that he could not explain much,
1t seems that two of the party were in
3. the stern of the boat. The other young
man, which no one knows, rose and
attempted to go TO the stern. He made
a misstep, and, quick as a flash, the
boat was turned over. Oscar Lundell
says'that when the others were thrown
into the water they grasped the side of
the boat and tipped it over, throwing
him underneath. He managed to float
out and get hold Of the gunwale. What
became of the others he does not know
None of them could swim.
AS soon as the. accident was seen from
the shore, Capt. f. A. Crote, who has
charge of the boats at that point, set out
to rescue them. He had some distance
to row. Before he had gone far enough
to be of any assistance the three NEIL
toned above had sunk for the last time.
They could not swim, and were bewil-
dered by their sudden overturning. He
arrived none too soon to prevent the
loss of life becoming four instead of
three. Oscar Dundell, who was cling
ing to the side of the boat, was almost
gone when Capt. Crote reached him and
dragged him into the bottom of his boat.
The sight of three lives going out from
the brightness of buOyant life into the
great unknown threw chill over the
thousands that were congregated at
Spring Park. No more happiness, no
more gaiety, no more celebrating of the
birth of the nation could be thought of.
Happy as those thousands were that a
nation had been born 116 years ago and
raised into giant, they could forget il
in the presence of death. So they
set to work Oh Lundell as soon
as he was landed and soon had
him restored to life. Graphing
hooks were improvised and a dozen
boats were out looking for the bodies of
the drowned. In the meantime word
had been sent to the Hotel Lafayette.
and experienced watermen equipped
with the necessary apparatus were sent
up from there. The bodies of the girls
were soon found and drawn to the Shore
There they were placed on the plat
form, and all the afternoon they lay
there. reminder to the thousands thai
pressed around that in the midst of life
they were in death.
Neither of the girls could have lived
long after being precipitated into the
water. One of them was brought to the
surface still grasplng her sun umbrella
just as she had been in the boat.
1t took a long time TO get and trsce OF
the body of Hogan. Once along toward
6o'clock the graphing hooks caught
his body and the searchers were haul
ing it to the surface when it broke
away. AT late hour last night it had
not yet been found.
This disaster cast a gloom over the
whole of that side of Lake Minnetonks