New-York tribune., 1901-08-27
FOUR DROWN TOGETHER.
BOYS DISAPPEAR BENEATH THE WAVES
AT LONG BRANCH WITHOUT WARM
ING-TWO BODIES RECOVERED.

West End, Long Branch. y. j.. Aug. es-
Four lads lost their lives in a drowning acct
dent while bathing here to-day. They were
Harold Sherman, twelve years old. the son OF
H. B. Sherman, cashier of the Citizens Bank Of
Long Branch; Leon GaskilI. eleven years old
the son of Mr.. and Mrs Alexander CsaskilL of
Chelsea-ave., and Raymond and Walter eleven
and eight years old respectively. the sons Of
Professor c. W. Blakeslee. vice-principaI Of the
Long Branch schools
IL had been the custom of the bows to 20 in
bathing on each morning. and soon after IL
O'Clock. when they entered the surf at T. n
Cranmer's bathing grounds. a large number Of
persons were in the water. and the paviIions on
the bluff were filed with pleasure seekers The
boys bathed for a few moments at the Chelsea
ave- grounds. and then waded out a short dis
tance beyond the undertow. south of Cranmers
grounds and opposite the beach fronting the
United. States Hotel Save Arthur Craig and
Leon Bouse. who knew the four boys little
notice was taken by any one else of the frohc
they were having in the sea.
Suddenly all four disappeared. Their bodies
did not reappear- None of the boys could SWIM
and the theory advanced for the suddenness of
their drowning is that they waded into hole
known 10 be situated just a few yards beyond
the undertow at this point. 1t is supposed that
when they went down they chung to one another
and the strong undercurrent which prevailed
carried them off TO a point beyond the guard
ropes. No one among the hundreds OF onlook-
along the beach and in the pavilions saw
the little fellows when they went down except
Bouse and Craig No one except Brouse and
Craig, who saw the accident. were at all GER
tain that the four lads had been drowned
The news spread quickly, and soon there was
a crowd of people on the scene. 1t was not until
thorough and fruitless search in the town and
at the homes of the four boys had been made
that any credence was given the story Of the
drowning. Sorrow stricktn parents hurried to
the scene. and search for the bodies was begun.
Captain Charles H vandyke. with a crew from
Vandyke's fisheries. made two unsuccessful drags
with a large seine This done. the crew went off
shore and patrolIed the section. while friends
walked up and down the beach in search Of the
missing bodies An hour and twenty minutes
elapsed before any tidings came. Then a shout
went up that one of the bodies had been discov-
cred opposite the Morrts-ave. jetty. 1t proved to
be the body of young Sherman.
Though it had been in the surf for nearly an
hour and half. Drs. Shaw and SlOcum worked
for fully half an hour TO resuscitate IT, but
without success. The body of the Gaskil boy
was brought ashore about seventy-five Yards
south of where the first body had been reeov-
cred. Efforts to resuscitate the boy were with
out avail All the afternoon and evening the
search was kept up for the Blakeslee ooys. but
they were carried into deeper water by the of
short current.
The stories of the drowning as related by
young Bouse and Patrick Malouey. bathing
master of the United States Hotel grounds. are
al variance. The former says that when the
boys went down he did hear cries for help, and
told Maloney that the four boys were drowning
MalOney. who is regarded of the sblest
bathing masters along The coast when seen last
night. made the following statement:
The boy came along and told me that some
boys were drowning out there. l went in the
surf and swan out and chased the boys. They
went down toward Cranmers, but they were not
the BOYS that were found drowned, all OF them
being good swimmers. l didn't see the boys and
didn't hear them cry for help. | think they must
have been drowned in the undertow I took
boat. but swan out. and later brought in a man.
The boy never waited until returned from the
strf. and instead he sauntered Off
f. r. Finnigan. a guest at the United States
Hotel. declares he caught in the same hole
yesterday morning. while bathing. and was res
cued Just in time to save him from drowning.