The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-05-18

Plans were made at noon today b5 Paul Boyton, the famous navigator and snowman, to dynamite the local harbor this afternoon in the hope that if the bodies of the missing Chambers
 and McMahon boys are lying at the harbor bottom they will come to the surface. Fears for the reason of both Mrs. Chambers and Mrs. McMahon are entertained, for the awful suspense has so worn on the women that they are on the verge of prostration. Mrs Chambers became hysterical last night and today, and has been almost con- stantly under the care of physicians.
 Today two automobiles were at work under the direction of the police, securing the country. but they could do little but retrace the course pur- sued by one or more of the dozen ma chimes that spent all yesterday after noon seeking the little lads. The in- vestigation by the authorities is prac- tically at a standstill, for while they are running down every possible clue, they have come upon nothing tangi- ble.
 There is growing conviction that the lads have met their death. Whether this was along the water the police cannot decide. The author ities today confessed that they are completely baffled They are unwill- ing to admit that the boys may have fallen victim to some such fien6 as slew little Philip Mastroiani in the woods beyond Lakeview Home. nearly three years ago. yet they concede the possibility of such fate having be- fallen the children.
 All day yesterday and again today the dragging of the local harbor was continued. Gruesome evidences of evidences of violent deaths, in the shape of human scalp. with tangled mass of hair, pieces of clothing to which shreds of flesh appeared to be attached, and shoes and other gar ments. Some of these no doubt were washed into the harbor from the wa ter front, while others may indicate suicide or other forms of death.
 Well into the night the searchers organized at Police headquarters and comprising policemen, firemen and civilians, kept up their work. Supt. Birmingham today said the country had been covered from the Housa- tonic river to the east of the Sauga- tuck river to the west, and from the sound as far north as the country be- yond Tashua. To suppose the chill dren had wandered further away than these limits, is beyond the conception of the authorities.
 Last night through Supt. Birming- ham a prominent banker made the offer of $100 for information that will lead to the recovery of the little folks. While the police are reluctant to be- lieve the children are held for ran som, for their parents are not wealthy enough they say to tempt kidnappers, they are confident that if they are really victims of a Kidnapping plot, some word will be manifested by the kidnappers today.
 Late yesterday Harbormaster Morris and Bridge Tender Joseph Schieting- CT desisted for a short time from the dredging of the harbor to make an inspection of all vessels in the har- bor. Detective Sergeant Fox assist ed in the search, and every vessel tied up to the docks was boarded by vir- tue Of the authority of the Harbor- master. Search was made through the vessels, both those upon which peo- pie were living as those that were abandoned to dispose of the possible en into the hold of an abandoned craft, Or had been taken aboard and kept by the people living on the yes sels,
 Today Captain Paul Boynton, him. self the father of a large family, VOL unteered every material assistance in the harbor search. He arranged to explode two charges of dynamite in the harbor at points so widely separ- ated that the bodies of the children, should they be at the bottom of the harbor, will be dislodged. Captain Boyton has spent most of his life on or about the water and he is thor oughly familiar with the best methods for the recovery of bodies of drown ed persons. He is sure if the- boys met their death by falling into the harbor anywhere near Congress street, the dynamiting this afternoon will raise them.
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