Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1906-1908, 1907-02-08
SCHWE|1ztR
HAS AWFUL MISHk;
FELL THROUGH THIN ICE ON
RIVER LAST nj hit.
Frees Himself After Struggle o.
Several Minutes Ter He Fc'.
Exhausted on SeCO id Street
Picked UP Frozen and !dhen to
Hospital Fears are Entertained
(From Sundays Daily.)


of St. Henry's Catholic chruch me-
with a very unfortunate and s.; OF.
mishap shortly after O'Clock las;
evening In fact it wa. Of such q
serious nature that at mionisnt III:
attending physicians cou id not tell the
true conditions, or whet the Iii
of the reverend gentlem n would be
spared or not, but they hope for th<
best. as we'll as the multitude G
friends in the city.
The predicament of Fa her Schv civ
ger is as peculiar as it i sad. rurn
the early part of the evening, the
victim of the unfortunate mishap haG
made a call on Rev. Fat Roge. az
st. Bernards' 8 parsonage on the YES,
side. as near as could be gathere'.
from Father Schweitzer, his story
related last evening Is as follows
After leaving St. Demands parson-
age, Rev. Schweitzer responded to 3
couple of sick calls on the west side
to points north of Nam street in tn.
Fifth ward. 1t seems from his story
that he tried to take short cut tt
reach st Henry's parsonage in tim;
to hear confessional. He attempted
to cross the Rock river at = roint
about u block above the Cady stree;
bridge and when at point about
thirty feet from shoe he broke
through thin ice, where lie cutting hal
been in progress the day before. Il
seems that Rev. SchweiUzer struggled
in the water for some fifteen or twenty
minutes before he mad his eslapt
from his perilous position, managing
to get his foot on the ice and pulling
himself out.
Despite of the fact that he was
thoroughly soaked with the icy water,
Father Schweltzer hurried in an at
tempt to reach the parse age and pre-
pare himself for the confess,3aai.
When he reached Seconf street at
point near the cold sto, g. he evil
IDENTIFY became exhauts q, for here Re
was found few minutes later by Emil
Kehr, who resides ne by, and 9;
whose home the dis ress cries o.
Father Schweitzer were heard.
When discovered, the reverend
gentleman was almost overcome b!
the exposure. His first utteranc.
was: "Save my life - His next
words were request to summon DIR.
Shinnick, who was quickly on the
scene. The sufferer was then removeo
to the John Stanton saloon on North,
Second street, MIR. Kehr having the
assistance of Oscar Beisner, Reinholc
Hintz and others.
Upon his arrival, DR.. Shinnick
gave temporary assistance q Their
telephoned TO the hospital to have
everything in readiness an i'll ter:
minutes time, Rev. Schweitzer and
party had arrived there and doctors
md nurses were zealously working
over him. Tie examination showed
that Father Schweitzer's right leg
and foot was badly cut and br Used by
coming in contact with the ice, also
that both hands were frozen stiii ano
several of his toes also frozen. His
clothing was frozen stiff as board and
the chances are that if he had nor
been discovered for FIVE minu es, he
would have been past all chance OF
earthly ali.
Fortunately Rev. Schweitzs- has a
ward at the hospital and thro1ghou'
the night he received best Of care frcn
the physicians and three nurse.
| At II O'Clock last night, DR.. Sh,--
nick stated that it would take about
six hours to determine the true
conditions. At that hour, the rIet'--
of this unfortunate accident was
coughing badly and fear was e.
tanned that pneumonia would result.
| At 80 O'Clock this mornln so2o
reached The Leader Office that 9ev.
Schweitzer was delerious an n 2
very precarlous condition, his pulse
being very high and at 104.
At 2 O'Clock this morning, word wa:
received that the patient was resting
much eeasier and that his pulse &C
ton was more normal.