The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-11-20
SHE SUNK IN QUAGMIRE.
EXTREME PERIL OF OLD MARY ANN
DoNOHUE.

uh.n wor,a In tho SOFT Harsh OF HsrGen'n
Crock Oh. HAD sank Nearly TO Fer GAIA
,,a the R,.ipG Tide Wouid seon Have
nro~,,s ucr-uer Cries brought Heip.
A woman dressed in rusty black clothes and
woorinv a faded poke bonnet trudgcd around
en- tar,hou.es In Jamaica South on Thursday
afternoon bedding needles, pins, and knick-
tnooks Che was a stranger In tho village. She
-. h.nt ovcr and weak, and from time TO time
.ou,ht m .tjmulate herself by taking "woo
nippies" out OF a small flask which che carried.
The houses arc few and far between on the
! fntlands bord on jamaica Bay In that VI
olpitv. and the old woman was pretty well OK
hnusted when she stopped at }. Milton Ber-
| gems farmhouse, which ls at the ond OF a road
leading down to a creek
Sbe rested herself for a while In Mr.. Ber-
gene house. and after dlsposing OF some OF her
little stock startod away again on her travels.
1t was aftor 8 o'clock when she left MIR. Bor-
gems house. and she was last seen wandering
down tho road toward tho south. Whether she
aat down some place and finished her flask or
vbetber she lust wandered on in her weak.
| palaied condition nobody knows but herself.
| She had not been secn in any Of the farmhousos
around after leaving Mr.. Bergon's. Tho creek
back of tho Bergen house in one OF the lido
water estuarics OF Jamaica Bay, and 1t is
known as BcrRen's Creek. There is q long plat
form back of the house which leads to a land
ing float.
Tho creek is shaped like the letter 7, the ends
| running north and south for some distance back
of the farmhouse. At high tide the creek is six
or seven feet deep and the water floods the
! salt marshy meadows for two or three feet for
nearly n quarter of IA milo square. When tho
tide is low, however, there is practically no
water on tho meadows, but the ground is soft,
and for twenty feet on each Side Of the creek
there is about half a foot of water. Some dis
lance up the creek there Is a boathouse and It
is thought that the old woman was making her
way toward this for shelter when she was
caught fast in n Quagmire.
Mr.. Bergen and tho two mon who help him
on his farm were sitting in the purlor after
supper when they were startled to hear II long,
blood chilling wall. 1t came from the back OF
the house in the direction of the creek. They
wall when there came another and all three
jumped to their feet. Tho waiting continued
and tloy ran out Of the house. One of the men
got u lantern and led the others along the road
leading to the creek.
They had gone about 400 feet when they
were appalled, at the sight OF the head OF tho
water on the left bank of the creek. Her head
was thrown back 50 far that she seemed to be
floating with only her face exposed. The
water was already up to her chin, and her
eyes were fixed in agony.
her wailing. Tho ladder and boards soon ar
rived. They were laid nat, and the men Crept
out. upon them to where she was caught fast;
The boards We're laid on each side of her. and
under tho direction Of Mt. Bergen the men
worked TO get her out OF the mud.
She had lost consciousness after struggling so
hard to keep her head above the water. and
the men had a difficult time getting her out.
They were obliged to let themselves into the
mud and slime up to their waists, They
sstooped ab the b soft uts mgd aw WA IRON IN. her nr1Wn,ssnnIsdh e I6
finally lift :her body outson the boards. Her
congress CATERS were left sticking in the mud.
| m lnnr ~ n and tn.1lar ann. 1,nlf IL fnnt Iva Nha
mud while the men We're working.
AS soon as they got her out on the bank Mr..
Bergen hitchcd up a team to Il farm wagon and
threw In some clean straw. Then the, old
woman was bundled up in II heavy coat and the
team driven at top speed to tho Town Hall in
Jamaica. 1t was nearly midnight when Mr..
was reused out of bed and helped Mr.. Bergen
and his men carry in their senseless mud-clothed
burden. One of the men ran for pr; blanchard,
who lives near the Town Hall, while the others
cut the clothes Off the old woman. Mrs. Doran,
tho wife of the ~janitor. was visiting friends. but
the men did all they could under the circum:
stances. A bed was made ready and the old
woman was in it when the doctor arrived. He
administered powerful restoratives, but 1t was
nearly an hour before she was revived sun.
GENTLY to o4lk. Even then she was still dazed
and talked in a wandering manner. Dr..
Blanchard feared that she might have oon-
t wss g o PnsIin S9sser ffo~ m NOR s1PN @neS b and 1e 4
her. She remained in the care Of Janitor Doran
until Q o'clock yesterday afternoon, when the
doctor pronounced her strong enough to be
transferred to the Emergency Hospital con.
Quoted by the Kings Daughters in Jamaica.
At tho hospital she said she was Mary Ann
Donohue,: a widow. and lived in Brooklyn,
somewhere-in Fulton street she thought. She
still talked in a wandering and: dazcd way and
the hospital folks were unable to get her to'tell
much about herself. She said she was only
80 years old. but her appearance certainly made
her out to be past 30 years.
Lord. 1 thought l was dead" she said at
one time. Il was walking and walking and
walking, oh, SO far, and it became dark and
then ! stepped in tho water and | walked in
where tho water was deep and then it got
deeper and deeper and | felt myself going down
and down until | says to myself, says |: Lord,
save me. I'm going to drown and then | got
in the mud and I felt somebody taking me
down, down to the bottom. Lord, 1t vas terri.
BILE, and if l hadn't prayed to God forH is mercy
] should truly have been drowned. Lord. #
was q terrible time for q poor woman like my
self. / used to be q fine lady and wore three
dresses every day, but the children are terrible;
they'll lie and steal when they're four years
old"
If pneumonia does not set in the doctor says
that Mrs. Donohue will recover. She said al
another time that she had n son John who wa,
employed by the Government. Mr.. Bergen sale
that If she had not been discovered whom she
was, the wafer, which was rising, would have
covered her in a very short time.
TENNESSEE STILL RAIDED.