The Saint Paul globe., 1897-10-04
CANNOT BE FOUND
SEARCH FOR ALFRED JACKSON'S
BODY AT VADNAIS STILL
PROVES UNAVAILING.
HEAVY DYNAMITE STICKS
ARE DISCHARGED ALI, nav. RIFT
NO THACE OF HIM IS
FOUND. = * s
ONLY WITNESS OF HIS DEATH
Worked Yesterday With the Search
ing Party-BeIieved Weeds Are
Holding the Body Down.

Starkey, of the city water department,
has had a force of men at work bonn
harding the waters of Lake Vadnais, in
an effort to recover the body of Alfred
h. jackson, the dairyman of Quincy
| street, who was accidentally drowned
there last Thursday morning. Thus
far, in spite of dynamite and all other
efforts, the body will not come to the
surface and just where it is remains a
mystery.
There is no question but that Jackson
was drowned and that his body is still
in the lake c. G. Merk, of 112O Edger-
ton street, who was with the dairyman
when he fell from the skiff into the
| lake, is the only living witness to the
tragedy and his description of the
drowning shows that it was a most
sensational and unexpected ending of a
fishing and hunting expedition. Mr..
| Merk was for eleven years a calker
| and foreman in the service of the city
water department. About three years
ago he left his position and went with
the Omaha Railroad company as a
foreman of a section gang on the
northern division of the line Then he
went with Fairbanks, Morse & Co., by
whom ne is employed today in about
the same capacity as he was by the
city. He has very comfortable home
and an interesting family He is a
very intelligent man of about forty
five years, the age that Jackson was
when he was drowned. The dairyman
was man Of extraordinary physique
and he weighed about 250 pounds. His
family consisted of his widow and four
children, and they are we'll known in
Arlington hills where most of Jackson's S
trade as a dairyman was centered.
Thursday about noon Merk called at
the saloon, at 1887 Payne avenue, where
Anton Stockhus is employed as a bar
tender, and the latter asked him to go
fishing at Lake Vadnais. Jackson and
a man named Colson entered the place
while the other two men were talking
about the matter and they joined in
the conversation. Merk thought that
the lake was too far away unless
conveyance could be had, and at this
Jackson offered to take all four of the
men to the lake in his wagon. This
offer was accepted and the quartette
drove off to the lake.
Merk had never met Jackson before
this time but on the way to the lake
he became quite well acquainted with
the dairyman and when they arrived
at the boat house at the lake Merk and
Jackson had decided that they would
take a skiff and fish, while Stockhus
and Colson went in another boat to
hunt. The boats were obtained and
the men paired off in them. Stockhus
and Colson rowed across to the little
island which divides the lake from
slough and then they dragged their
boat over the island into the backwa-
ter. While they were there in quest of
game Merk and Jackson were anchored
in the lake near the island, about 12o
yards from shore, fishing. Evening
came on and it was few minutes
after o'clock when Stockhus and Col
son appeared in the lake again with
their boat. They pulled up alongside
of Merk and Johnson, who were still
anchored in the water, and consulta
tion followed as to when the whole
party should meet at the boat house to
return together to the city. Then
Stockhus and Colson pulled away and
Merk and Jackson prepared to weigh
anchor, concluding however, that they
would troll along to the boat house
for pickerel.
JackscI was in the stern of the boat
and Merk was at the bow to haul up
the anchor. He reached for the line
and gave it a tug. Jackson rolled out
of his seat into the water and Merk
saw him go down. He called to
StcckhuS and Colson in alarm and they
turned about and returned to the scene
of the accident There was hope that
Jackson would rise to the surface, but
he did not come up again. This was
the end of the tragedy and it frighten-
ed the other three men. Merk rOwed
his boat to shore and reported to the
police. Since then every effort has been
made to recover the body but without
avail.
Friday morning Merk went to the
lake bright and early in an effort to re-
cover the body. He enlisted the ser
vices of a crew of men, among whom
was Supt. Starkey. and all day long the
lake was dragged but without success,
even though Merk had staked out the
spot where Jackson's body went down.
Saturday it was impossible for Merk to
continue the search on account of his
work, but Supt. Starkey kept it up. He
loaded boat with battery and dyna-
mite sticks and went into the lake.
With the aid of the battery he eXplod-
ed a number of these sticks in the wa
ter about the spot where the dairyman
went down, but they would not bring
that the battery was weak and yester-
day morning he filed another boat with
dynamite sticks provided with water
proof fuses Merk was a member of
the superintendents party that set off
these explosives, and all day long, even
though it was the Sabbath, the effort
to bring the body to the surface was
continued Dynamite was fired into the
water all day long but the body could
not be raised. 1t is believed that jack
sons remains are embedded in a clump
of weeds.
Merk is distracted over the accident.
He was seen at his home last evening
by a G 10 b e reporter and told the
story of the drowning. He said that it
was purely accidental, and as he re-
counted the efforts to recover the body
great tears rolled down his cheeks.
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