Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1902-05-31
TROMLEY BLAMED
Crew of the Steamer Van SAINT
Indignant Over Mas
ter's Action.
IN THE DROWNING OF s. MIKEsELL
Refuses to Stop Boat and Let Mates
Recover Body of I'm
fortunate.

The body of Sidney Mikesell, the
tll-fated young fireman on the raft
boat j. w. Van SAINT. and who was
drowned of that steamer ON the
night of Sunday, May 10Th. has not
been recovered and since the river
has gone on a rampage it will be eX-
tremely doubtful whether il soon will
be.
The crew of the boat were filed
with intense Indignation and resent
ment oter the action of the boats
master, Capt. George Tromley, who
cXerted not the slightest effort To
find the body of the unfortunate
young man. nor would he allow them
time or opportunity To do SO. The
moment he learned of the drowning,
which occurred about l.: 10 Il. IN. Mon
lay morning, he ordered the men
who manned skiff and had gone to
find Mikcsell or his body, to get
aboard the boat.
The accident happened about three
miles above Gutenberg. a small place
80 miles north of Dubuque. When
the captain had passed several sta
tions and showed no intention of not
ate young man, his mates inrthc Ser
vice. all of whom lovesl, him a. Il
brother and who were deeply dis
trcSsed over The sad fate that so sud-
denly robbed him of Lire and them of
Il genial, buoyant colorado, had their
hearts swell"d with Indignation.
Force Captain tn stop.
Whether Capt. Tromley deemed il
useless TO make 4 search for Mike
sells body, perhaps thinking it would
be loss of time and effort and an inter
ruptiun of the boats journey and
business to no purpose, is not known.
but certain il is that the men looked
at il differently. They attributed his
course to heartless Indifference.
They were amazed when he sent the
boat ON without even once looking
for the unhappy victim. The longer
they thought about the matter the
greater was their Indignation. There
were murmurs i'm the crew and the
impatient ones demanded of Capt.
rromley that he run the boat ashore
at the next port and send a message
of notifica ton to the dead fireman'S
relations. To avert rupture with
the men. Capt. Tromlcy complied
with their demand when they forced
him tn act. His neglect and indiffer-
Cnce aroused feeling of resentment
among the crew. who were bitter in
their denunciation of his course. The
raftmen declared they would all quit
and at Dubuque five men left the boat.
The Marine Law.
Old rivermen say that the marine
law requires, i'm case of drowning,
that the captain of vessel tie up his
craft for 81 hours and institute search
for the body or else leave a skin
properly manned for that purpose.
The brothers of Sidney Mikeseil and
some of the good people of Gutten-
berg, including members of the *. of
p. order, to which the brothers be-
long. are still searching for the body,
a reward of So having been offered
for its recovery.
The sad fate of Sidney Mikesell
caused tears to flow when the tidings
reached Albany, ILL.,, his birthplace,
where he resided the past two years.
and in Muscatine. where he lived the
greater part of his life. Sidney WAS
universally liked. and now that he is
gone. all that knew him have only
good words to say in kindly remem-
brauce