The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1911-12-08
III YEAR OLD GIRL
THIN ICE VICTIM
Ruth |. Birch Drowned in the
Connecticut River.
ACCIDENT OCCURRED SUNDAY
Brother and Another Companion Had
Narrow Escape From Like fate-Chil.
dren Had Been Warned Against Ven
turing Upon Thin Surface.

While skating on the cove near the
Island Park boat house opposite this
Village. short distance from her home,
Ruth ldelle Birch, the ll.year.old daugh'
ter of Mr.. and Mrs. John NJ. Birch. broke
through the ice and was drowned few
minutes after two O'Clock Sunday ar
| ternoon. Her body was recovered with
| in half an hour by her father. Her
Younger brother, Albert, Joseph Lamere,
the ll.year.old son of Mr.. and Mrs.
Joseph Lamere, WIN live near the Brch
family ON the island, and Harold Cakes,
who went to the rescue of the children;
were all in the water ut one time and
! Lamere and Cakes were rescued with
considerable difficulty.
Miss Birch and her brother were skat'
! ing ON the cove when the ice suddenly
gave away, letting them into the water.
Young Lamere. who was playing nearby,
had rushed upon the ice and broken
through in an attempt to save his little
friends when Harold Cakes, who, with
his father, Charles Cakes, and brother,
George, was drawing n float out OF the
river, happened to look in the direction
of the children and saw them struggling
in the water. Shouting to his father and
brother he started for the boy and girl,
a distance of about 200 feet urging
them TO hold onto the ice. but the girl
had gone down the second time before
the rescuers reached the edge of the
cove, about rs feet from where she sank.
A long piece of timber pushed onto the
ice by Mr.. Cakes and his sons enabled
young Lamere to keep his head above
water. Young Birch was rescued by
Harold Cakes, who threw him rope. As
Cakes attempted to throw the rope TO
Lamere the ice broke and the former
went into the water which was over his
head. The attention of the other res
cuers was then divided between Lamere
and Cakes. The latter was drawn ashore
with a rome and Lamere was rescued by
Charles Ebbighausen and Alonzo Frazer
who were among the first TO respond to
Mr.. Cakes s call for help, reaching the
scene in boat.
1t was necessary to break a channel
through the ice from the shore to the
spot where Miss Birch went down and
where Young Iamere was hanging TO
the timber before the latter could be res
cued or any attempt made TO BRING up
Miss Birch s body, which lay on the bot
tom in about six feet of water.
When Harold Cakes gave the alarm
several members of the Birch family ar.
rived on the scene and a few minutes
later were Joined by number of people
from this village. A boat, half-filled
with water, was emptied and its chain
fastening broken with an axe by Charles
Cakes before il could be launched. All
of these operations took several minutes
which seemed an unfortunately long time
to those standing on the shore helpless
to assist in rescuing the Lamere boy,
clinging to the piece of timber, or to
bring the body of the young woman to
the surface. 1t was Impossible Tor
grown person to reach young Lamere as
! he, i.a n
of an inch thick where the accident oe-
cured 1t was barely an inch thick
where it touched the edge of the cove.
Mr.. Birch the father of the drowned
girl. was in the boat when it reached the
spot where his daughter sank and was
one of the first to discover the body
which was quickly raised to the surface
by means of an iron rake and hurried
to the Birch home, only few rods away,
where DR.. Henry Tucker worked for an
hour in an attempt to resuscitate her.
Meantime young Lamere had been taken
to his home and given attention by a
physician. Young Birch was also treat
ed by physician as he was thoroughly
chilled. Harold Cakes, to prevent tax
ing cold, ran the entire distance to his
home on Clark street where he changed
his clothes and returned to the scene.
The Birch children had been warned
a number of days before tine accident,
by man passing the cove that it was
dangerous to play there until the ice
was strong enough to hold them. AT the
time of the accident Mrs Birch was Wis
iting in New Jersey and word was i'm.
mediately sent to her. She reached her
home Monday.
Ruth Birch was a pupil in the sixth
grade of the Main street school. and a
member of the Methodist Sunday school.
Besides her father and mother she
leaves five brothers and four sisters:
Raymond Clarence, Edith, Ina, Elmer,
Olive, Albert, Mildred and Norman. Flu
neral services were held at the home at
2 clock Tuesday afternoon. Rev. f. A.
Wells, of the Methodist Episcopal
church, officiated and burial was in Pros
pect Hill cemetery. The bearers were
brothers of Miss Birch.