The Washington times., 1912-05-27
BODIES OF VICTIMS .
Of RIVER ACCIDENT
ARE STILL MISSING
Fleet of Boats on Gruesome
Mission Down the
=, Potomac.

, nave not YET discovered the bouteS or
Mrs. BESSIE TIallcr and Mrs sarah
jeanette Nelson. the two young women
who lost their lives last night when
the excursion steamer Angler ran
down and sank the sasolene launch
l.ctis. off Shepherds Point, opposite
Alexandria. and within the DISTRICT
limits.
with Clyde Thompson. a brother Of
Mrs. Nelson, assisting the crew Of
the harbor precinct in their search IN
the lead. the Potomac. for Il radius OF
half a mile has been dredgel today.
and every foot Of the river bottom has
been gone over. The efforts Of the
searchers. however. have availed them
nothing. ..- .H. ..,
. On board tho Lofts when she was
cut almost in half, besides the two
young women, were Arthur w. Simp-
son, the owner of the craft, who is
employed by his father at 64s Penn
.sylvania avenue southeast; L. e.
Cameron, clerk of 62s North Carolina
avenue southeast; Charles Topper,
clerk, 451 H street northwest: Claude
Buflingame, clerk, of GIT Massachu-
setts avenue northeast, and Jerome
Kaufman, of 62> II street northwest.
All the men were saved, but each had
the narrowest Of escapes, two of
them having been drawn under water
by the Anglers propellors. All of
them were severely bruised and
shaken up.
Both Gilbert c. Bensinger, owner
Of the Angler, and Mr.. Simpson deny
responsibility for the accident. Coro-
ner hewitt will make an investigation
to ascertain exactly who is to blame
for 1t.
Met At Marshall Hall.
The women, each member of the party
today declared, had been met at
Marshall Hall yesterday afternoon for
the first time, and had been invited TO
Join the party of men which was pre-
pairing to return to Washington in the
launch. They never had seen the wo-
men before, they said, and did not
know their names.
Three premonitions that the two girls
would be drowned were had by Mrs.
r. Thompson, mother of Mrs. Nelson
who lives at 1858 Kraemer street north
east.
"The two girls came to my home
Saturday" Mrs. Thompson said this
morning, and spent several hours
with me; When they got ready to go
: me they were going down the river
= but would return Monday morning
Bessie-Mrs. Haller-said she had nc
mother. but that she would like te
Ii took the gil in in nv ny arms arms ant %
kissed her repeatedly. I felt at tn.
happen. Saturday nj ght. \ dreamet
that the two girls bad lost their lives
:. saw a muddy river and a deel
1snnpo 1%hiripool; ao boat came me, in the dis,
. Whirlpool. AS the suction drew the
: frail launch closer and closer. l coulc
see In my dreams figures standins
the boat reached the center of the
pool, I distinctly recognized MY
daughter and her girl companion.
4. Three Dreams.
"A second and similar dream came T.
me the same night, and last night, jus
before was awakened I had a thir,
dream. L.: each instance. l saw nj:
daughter and Bessie drawn into
whirlpool, and then disappear in tn
!. muddy water
: She said that Sarah was born in 1891
= and married after a long courtship
. but did not live with her husband
. great length OF time. The two girl4
she said, had~a a room at GIG G stree
+: northwest.
The Angler, a big excursion boat, II
: owned by George c. Bensinger who
was on board at the time. Mr.. Ben
; singer said this morning that he does
uct IOlu Ills men ItSpOlSlDle LOT I'M
accident. as the launch carried nj
T: lights. The men on the launch, on tn,
other hand, say that lights We're dis
T. played. and that the Anglers plo
could have avoided the accident had h.
q. tried
(, As soon as the steamer struck tn
IrunCh, The eXcursonists screamed t
; thc mcn,bers of the ships crew an
ssked that the boats be lowered. Th
men IN the watsr began scrambling 70
The two wornen. with 3 view of savn
anl ~ ut
t"eGed in reachin. Mrs Haller. and h
directed her to place her arms ahon
;Iis neck. lnd to cling tight. Accord
life 'ntor WIS thrown to the coupl,
md the man had succeeded in graspin
It, the men or the steamer sta terked 1t
lease her hold She sank and her bod
wus not seen again.
The men in rne scramble lost tn
greater part of their clothing.
few moments after the accident
small feet of motor boats reached tn
scene and took up the search for tn
To Hold Inquest.
Coroner hewitt said he would hold a
inquest Just as soon as one or bot
OF the bodies had ben recovered. TIL
Coroner said it would be impossible I
set the time of the inquest, becaus,
under the law of the District, it is ne,
essary to swear the jury in over tn
body.
, According to statements made to tn
police of the harbor station by the ms
IN the launch, there were no runnin
lights on the small boat. They sa
however, there was a siN-volt electr
incandescent lamp used around the el
gine lighted at the time. They though
: this light could be sen by another boa
4. ]. Venable, pilot of the Angle
told the police there were no lights {
. the launch. He made the foliowir
( statement:
Thirty Feet Away.
We were about thirty feet from Z
hNnch when we first saw it. There We
no lights on the launch. l saw thr
men jump off the stern of the launC
. unl IL" mex; minute the collision O
, Cured ! ran aft and lowered bCa
Nober, Dyer. one Of the deck hanC
and myself got in the boat and stay
n,ar II" sc rie of the accident wv lie I
Angler made the trip DOWN the riv,
.,. ~ 4-y, ~ the Ylcin.N of the plA
where the women were drowned un
the Angler "ame back on ner rctu
trip, bit the bodies did not come
tke surface as far as we could see"
Charles F.. Baggeet master OF