Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1910-05-20

generally were shocked and saddened |
Monday evening by the fatal canoeing |
accident in which Willard B. Sargent |
met his death by drowning after doing |
all that man could to assure the SAFETY |
of his companions in the canoe. the |
accident occurred in the Connecticut river |
near the mouth of the West river about 4,
sl5 o'clock Monday evening and the
body was recovered the following morn |
ing soon after 10 o'clock within short
distance of where he was seen last. Inc
canoe is the same one from which Ralph
Harlow, a high school senior, was drown
ed nearly two years ago. 1t is some
thing more than a coincidence That the
only fatal canoe accidents in recent years
in Brattleboro should have been from
the same craft
Mr.. Sargent left the island canoe house
about 5.45 o'clock in company with his
housekeeper, Mrs. Willow, and Leroy
Berg. They padded up the Connecticut
river and a short distance up the West
river before turning to come home.
When about in the middle of the Con-
necticut river nearly 200 feet below the
outlet of West river the canoe suddenly
careened to one side and all three were
precipitated into the water. Mr.. Sargent
was an expert swimmer and he caught
firm hold on Mrs. Willow before they
came to the surface the first time. He
assisted her to get firm grasp on the
overturned canoe and by that time Mr.
Berg also had hold of the other end of
the canoe. The craft was rolling about
in a dangerous way, but it was buoyant
enough to support all three until help
arrived.
Mr. Sargent was so confident in his
power as a swimmer that he struck out
for the Vermont shore several hundred
feet away. He made good progress and
was seen not far from the shore. 1t was
the belief of his companions and the
rescuing party that he reached the shore
in safety, but they could find no trace
of him. 1t was evident that he was
seized with cramps or experienced a
sudden exhaustion for he sank without
making any cry which could be heard
by the other canoeists. The body was
recovered in about 10 feet of water close
to where he was last seen. He had his
pipe firmly grasped in one hand and
must have held it there throughout his
efforts to save his companions and on
his long swim toward shore.
When the canoe upset it was seen by
Herbert c. Shaw and A. d. Flower of
the telephone exchange who were pad
ding another canoe with Mrs. Shaw and
another young woman as passengers.
They were just coming out of the mouth
of West river not far from the southern
shore and were fully 500 feet from the
upset canoe. They padded to the shore
and left their passengers as quickly as
possible and then went with all haste to
the aid of Mrs. Willow and Mr.. Berg,
who were clinging to the overturned
canoe. They saw Mr.. Sargent swimming
strongly across in front of them and
gave no further thought to him. They
found Mrs. Willow with a precarious
hold with the palm of one hand on the
bottom of the canoe She could swim
a little and she had the confidence and
good sense not to struggle nor attempt to
lift herself from the water. Either action
would have resulted in her losing her
hold and being drowned in all probability.
Mr.. Shaw and Mr. Flower performed
one of the finest canoeing feats on record
in the river in rescuing the two half
drowned people. Neither claims to be an
expert canoeist but the steadiness and
good sense which they showed gives
them a place among the best boatmen
of the town. They padded up beside
Mrs Willow, who was losing her grip
on the canoe, and got a firm hold on
her, reassuring her and cautioning her
not to struggle and overturn their canoe.
They got a similar hold on Mr.. Berg and
padded to the shore without attempting
to take either into the canoe. Mrs.
Willow was the verge of a collapse
when they reached the shore, but she
bore up with a great effort and was
able to walk to town and be taken to
her home without losing control of her
self. She and Mr.. Berg also showed ad-
HlTdDlS presence OF nina IN SeCOnQlnR
the efforts of their rescuers. 1t would
have been an easy matter for them to
have simply rushed to the rescue with
out stopping to unload their passengers
and to have attempted the rescue in a
way that would have resulted in all
being drowned.
The alarm was given by Mr.. Shaw to
John Calvin, first selectman, and the
bailiffs, who generally take action in such
cases, were notified. Graphing irons
were secured and several motor boats
went to the scene of the accident and
made an unsuccessful attempt to find
the body E. ]. Fenton was particularly
jealous in the search. He remained on
the spot until after IL o'clock and was
there about daylight again in the morn
ing. Horton Walker, for whom Mr.. Sar-
gent worked as an electrician, was active
Monday night in getting steps taken
toward the recovery of the body and
early Tuesday morning he went to the
scene with John Brasor in Mr.. Brasor's
boat. They were accompanied by Charles
H. Cakes with his megaphone water
telescope and Mr.. Berg. They anchored
the boat somewhat upstream from where
they believed the body to be and let it
drift downstream, scanning the bottom
of the river with the water telescope.
They had worked in this way some time
when Mr.. Oaks saw three white spots
in the water although he was not using
the telescope at the time. A closer ex-
animation showed that the three spots
were Mr. Sargent's face and hands as he
lay on his back on the river bed. The
body was drawn to the surface and
brought to Brattleboro in Hayes Bige-
lows Pope boat
Just what caused the accident is un-
known. Mr.. Berg was padding in the
bow and Mr.. Sargent in the stern. When
the canoe began to tip over Mr.. Berg
leaned in the other direction, but the
canoe kept on tipping in the direction
which it started as though Mr. Sargent
had fallen upon the gunware One of the
men who went up the river that night
saw a broken paddle floating down stream
some distance below the scene of the
accident. Possibly 1t broke in Mr.. Sar-
gents hands, causing him to lose his
balance. Mr.. Sargent was a new man in
the canoe, having bought the craft only