Jamestown weekly alert. [volume] (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1882-1925, 1913-05-29
THREE YOUNG GIRLS II I
DROWNED

Monday evening about five o'clOch
Bernice and Claudia Ripley, daugh'
ters of Mr.. and Mrs. Joseph Rippley,
and Mamie Matchie, daughter Of MI.
and Mrs. John Matchie, left their
home on Fifth avenue south to SO
to the James river. They donned
their bathing suits at home, and 81
pected to take short plunge in the
stream, the weather during the day
having been very warm. They were
accompanied by smaller sister OF
Mamie, little Grace Matchie, about
13 years old, who did not attempt
to go into the water. Also accom-
panying the girls were the little
daughter of Mr.. and Mrs. Dave
Brockman, and Olive Buckwalter,
about 12 years of age.
They reached the river bank near
the Weise house, just south of that
residence, and entered the water.
AS near as can be learned from the
account of the younger girls in the
party, Claudia RIPLEY, the youngest
of the trio who had started in bath
ing was near the edge of the bank,
about up to her knees in the water.
The other two girls had just entered
the water when Claudia screamed.
She had slipped into deep hole near
the bank. She struggled and disap-
peared, and the other girls evidently
thinking it would be easy to rescue
the smallest one so close to the shore
started after her and in the struggles
all three girls were drowned. The
two youngest, Claude RIPLEY and
Mamie Matchie, were afterwards
found holding on to each other
tightly; the eldest, Bernice, was
floating some little distance from the
spot where the two youngest were
found, and her body was taken to
shore by Walter Weise, about fifteen
Edr twenty minutes afterwards.
When the girls began floundering
and disappearing beneath the water,
the smallest of the children, Grace
Matchie, rau to the neighbors near
est by and gave the alarm. Harry
Ayers, who was milking cow near
the scene, heard the little girl
shouting that her sisters were
drowning, and that they had gone
down. He and Walter Weise, who also
heard the alarm at the same time,
ran to the river bank. The only
one of the girls visible was Bernice,
who was still floating at the top OF
the water. Weise promptly jumped
into the stream, swan to the girl,
and managed to get her body to the
shore. BY this time number of
people had arrived, among them
Chief Obermiller, Rudolph Hamm,
and they and others at once at
tempted to save the girl whose body
had been taken from the stream.
Every effort to revive her was made
by rubbing her limbs, and pressing
upon the chest and lungs, and 1T
was believed for short time that
they would succeed, as the girl
showed signs of life by a few spas
modic movements and twitches of
her limbs. In short time Drs. Holt,
Peake, Movius and Wood were also
at the scene and worked hard to re-
vive the girl, but all efforts proved
unavailing.
The bodies of the two smaller
girls had entirely disappeared by this
time, and were rescued from the
water by Rudolph Hamm, Will Zuel-
ke and Lawrence Obermiller and
others. These bodies were found
in ~ feet of water, and we're not
secured until about an hour after
the body of Bernice had been brought
to shore. The body of Bernice had
drifted away from the place where
the other girls went down. The
hole where the girls were drowned
had about seven feet of water. The
bodies Of Mamie and Claudia were
secured with graphing hooks by
men working from a boat. The bod
les could be seen lying at the bottom
of the river. Although the water
was very cold beneath the surface
there was no evidence of cramps.
All three Of the bodies were taken
to Flint's undertaking establishment
and prepared for burial.
The other small children who ac-
companied the girls to the river be-
came frightened, ran to their homes
and told their parents of the terri
BILE affair. A large crowd Of peo-
pie gathered at the stream soon after
the news reached the city. The city
dre bell rang an alarm, but few peo-