The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-08-07
THOMAS KEH0E DROWNED.
KNOCKED OVERHEARD FROM a
BOAT IN WILMINGTON RIVER


by John w Turner at the Risk of
His own Life. But without Avail.
other Members of the Party Seem
ed TO Have Lost Their Hcads-Tur-
ner and Aehne Struggled TOgeth-
err in Rough Water for Nearly Half
an Hour. When the Latter Finally
Slipped Away and Drowned-The
Party Lert savannah in saiIboat
for warsaw. Hut Failed to Reach
Their Destination.
lCh omas Kehoe. a young man about %
years OF age. ana well known IN Savannah,
was drowned in Wilmington river yester-
day afternoon in the neighbOrhood OF Tur-
ner S Rocks.
Saturday night about midnight Kehoe,
in company with several friends, left the
city IN a sailboat intending 10 20 to War
saw. The other members of the party
were Robert Bradley, John Byrnes. John
Conno-sr, William Cautweu. Dennis Leon
ard and John ". Turner. The party did
not max as good speed on the trip as had
been exp ected. and they were still in VIII
mington river when morning came They
had inten led going through Parsons cut,
but when they reached the mouth of the
cut they concluded that the water was too
low TO go through They then turned
about and started back towards Thunder
bolt. When in the neighborhood of Tur-
ner's Rocks Turner's hat blew overheard.
Byrnes took the bateau. which they had
been towing alongside, and started after
the hat. k.ehoe was standing ID in the
of the party were proba bly, doing the
same thing, and this doubtless attracted
their attention from the sail, the boom
coming around with a quick swing and
knocking Kshof. overheard.
Kehoe could not swim and would have
been drowned Immediately had not Turner
jumped overt GARD and reached him. Tur-
uer stated af forwards that Kehoe caught
him around the neck with a death grip
but he suecc edcd in getting him to take
hold of him by the shouTI ers. There was
a high wind and the tide was runnfnS
swiftly. maxi ng il very difficult work for
Tuner in his effort 10 sustain his friend.
lie was a oCd swimmer however. and
managed to ustain kehoe in the water for
some time. but was unable to reach the
boat which had gotten considerab e dis
lance away. The men in the boat either
the boat, as they never succeeded in get
ing near TO kehOe and Turner ConnOrs
jumped overheard to go to Turner's as
sistAncc, but huIt himself in doing 50 and
went back. Byruos was some distance
away IN the batteau when the accident
occurred and when his attention was call
al 10 the tNo men in the water endeaVored
TO rea IN them, but the tide was running
so swiftly that he did not succeed in doing
so.
After the two men had been In the water
for so%ne time those who remained in the
boat SEW Kehoe slip away from Turner and
80 down. The latter continued swimming
unul he reached the boat when he was
dragged IN utterly exhausted. He went
into sWoon after being pulled in. His
first inquiry on recovering was to inquire
for kenOe, whom he thought he had sue
cceded in bringing TO the boat. When he
found that he had not succeeded in rescu-
ing his frienG he was almost beside him
self and attempted to jump overheard
again. but was restrained from doing so.
As kehoe mad disappeared and there was
evidently no possibility of doing anything
further in his behalf the young men came
on to Thunderbolt, which they reached
about O'Clock. They reported the affair
there and the news was telephoned to the
city, Coroner Goette was notified by tele-
phone and went to Thunderbolt immediate
ly but as the body had not been recovered
inere was no need for his services.
Some of Kehoe's friends stated their
intention of returning TO the scene last
night in the hope Of discovering his body
There was little reason 10 entertain this
hope, however. as the WAFER at Turners
Rocks is very deep ana the bodies of
drowned persons seldom come to the surf
ace until day or two after. A searching
party Will so to the scene to-day for the
purpose of graphing for the body.
The affair is a very regrettable one in
every way. The you,ig5 man was well
liked and had number of friends in Sa-
vannah. From the reports received by the
Morning News il would seem that had
the heroic efforts of one member of the
party been supplemented with good man
agcmeut and good judgment on the part
Of the others Kehoe's life might have
been saved.
i<ehoe was a native of Savannah, but
! was left an orphan at an early age by the
] death of his parents during the yellow
| fever epidemic of 1876 He has three sis
/ tiers. Mrs. Ed Barrett of Offerman, Mrs
/ John Parham of Charleston, and Mrs
/ John Hin of Miami, Fla.
Kehoe was employed as a compositor by
! the Savannah Press. All the members of
/ the party on the excursion were residents
/ of the eastern section of the city in the
neighborhood of East Broad and Brough-
| ton streets,
FUNERAL OF Gil ARIES DALI.