The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-09-03
JUMPED FROM THE BRIDGE.
Vt JUMPER RESCUED FROM
DROHNING RI 4 PASSING TUG,,

no Ienprd from tho slightest Point or the
span-Not Apparent whether ne Tried 70
CoMn,it sutcite or uonca TO win the
Rewards Tint Sometimes Follow n Lem,
About once in so often a man jumps Off the
Brooklyn Bridge into The river. In the course
Of years the performance has lost til. charm Of
novelty. but there IL still cnurch notoriety IN 10
to tempt an occasional idiot To essay the leap
for that cause. Others make tho jump as n do
siraely sensational method OF suicide. Which
of those causes impcllcd the lntest p~ontomanlao
TO mako the aerial trip ia not known. Tho man,
Herman Often, Is now In the Hudson Strect
Hospital. The doctors say that he will prob
ably recover.
That no really jumped is pretty well sub
stantiatcd By the story OF Capt. p. $. Thornton
OF the tug Gratitude belonging to tho vicrow
rowing Company. and OF several Of his men.
None OF the bridge policemen saw the man jump,
and although there were n score OF painters no
work In the network Of cables Just above the
place where Often fell in tho water. not one of
them noticed him until he was in the river.
IL was about . o'clock in the afternoon whom
tho Gratitude, on its way up the river with tho
schooner Edith Dennis in tow, passed into the
shadow OF the bridge. Capt. Thornton was no
the wheel. AS the Prov came out from under
the bridge something that looked like IA bundle
OF rags flashed into the water about ilf,y yaris
to starboard. There was n great splash. and,
n few seconds later, Capt. Thornton saw an arm
waving above the surface OF the water. Cast
Ing on his tow. he put about and steamed over
to where the man was splashing wildly in an
instructive effort TO keep himself on the surface.
A boat hook was stretched out. upon which
Often seized. and William Hotaling and Will
liam II. sullivan. two OF the tugs men, hauled
him aboard. He tried to speak, but his head
dropped and he became unconscious. Thinking
that he had tnkcn In too mach water, his res
cuers hung him over the rail face down, but,
instead OF water, blood came from his mouth,
Near by was the New York Central tug 10,
Capt. ,Ripley, and Capt. Thornton hailed 1t.
10 the Battery and land him. SO Often was
landed there. and n surgeon from the Marine
Hospital, after examining him, sent in an am
bulancc call, in response TO which an ambulance
took the man to the Hudson Street Hospital.
There he was reused from his unconscious con-
dition enough to say that he was Herman Of
Astoria. To all queries AS to why he had
jumped he returned no answer, and soon
later and was Going well al last accounts. Dr..
Holmes, the house surgeon; said that there
TO believe, from the patients condition, that
he had jumped from the bridge.
During the afternoon Charles Hartz of 13S
Lincoln street, Astoria, went to the hospital.
and said that he was n cousin Of Often. He
could give no reason why Often should have
jnmpcd from the bridge. Il is supposed thai
bridge on. "A truck or wagon before ne jumped.
The spot from which he leaped was at the high
tr9l span. What became q the driver Of the
vehicle the police would like to know; From
low TO get Often. 1t would appear that he had
no invention of being rescued, and that he in
tended TO Kill! himself. He will probably have
TO answer a charge of attempted suicide should
he recover. -