The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-05-17
WITNESSES ALL BLAME CAPTAIN
 OF MAINE SHIP
Accuse Demmons of Run ming Down Canoe and
 Causing Youth s Death.
ACCUSED MAN SAYS FILLER CAUSED CRASH
Rope Caught So He Could Not Steer Boat, He Says
 Case Continued.

| -CaSG COnGlnu0Q.
 c. E. Demmons, captain of the three masted schooner t-Brigadier'' 42 years of age, ~hailing from Rockland, 1 Maine, and his mate Olie Houston, aged 33. of the same city, were re- manded to jail today until Saturday to await trial upon charges of man slaughter preferred against them Bonds of $50OO each, which had not l been furnished this afternoon, wers | set for their release
 l Demmons and Houston were ar. rested yesterday following a motor boat fatality in the Pequonnock riv- Ter, when Ralph Bartlett, aged 22, canoeing with his friend George Pull lon, 1o81 Stratford avenue, was drowned as a result of the motorboat raznming the frail bark and sdnking Iit
 A host of witnesses to the accident have been procured by the police, all 1 of whom place the responsibility for the death upon the sailors. The mat ter is now in the hands of Coroner 1 John Phe1on. who has been notified I turn from another city to conduct the inquiry.
 The body of Bartlett has been claimed by his friends, following quick recovery from the waters yes terday and his mother and father in
 
 once by the police are believed to be on their way to this city to attend to the funeral arrangenients-
 The fatality occurred shortly after 12 o'clock yesterday, in plain view of l crowds hurrying home from church across the Congress street bridge The l canoe was going north with Bartlett land Pullon, while the motorboat with Demmons and Houston was going south according to the victim zz~z+ w-ru,x 4 the part of the canoetsts to avoid coll liszon is stated by all who witnessed T the affair. Whether the motorboa+ steered by Captain Demmons tried to get out of the way Of the boat or in tentonalIy ran 1t down, is not de- finiteiy established in the minds Of the police.
 When the canoe was struck Pul1on climbed aboard the motorboat and denounced the sailors. Although I Bartlett had been struck by the canoe 1 or motorboat, he came to the surface once or twice and attempted to save
 himself by padding. Several wit nesses called loudly to his companion and the men in the boat but they went away They were later apprehended : by Sergeant Ramsey and Policeman ll DalEwig, who were notified of the ! eventssa
 Fl In statement furnished the police today by Captain Dernmons and in an. : other taken from Mate Houston, 1t ap- l pears that both were grossly intoxi- cated and little aware of what hap
 pened- The captain sa4d. s<when : got near the Congress street bridge we saw canoe but not until we were 2 right on top of it. The steerage rope caught and we could not steer the boa s and we ran into the canoe and tipped it over. We picked up the other anc s took him to shore Sunday nornins
 
 z of gin and we drank the most of f before we went out in the motorboat n lFWe were so much under the fnhuencs
 of liquor that we did not know wha,
 we were doing
 The statement of Mate Houston wa
 similar to that of the captain in re
 spect to drinking a quart of gin ant
 other events preceding the collision
 with the exception that he ayers h,
 did not see the canoe until it had up e set and that the captain was steerinl A the motorboat and told him to sto1
 anything until saw the fellow over 7s board he, said
 Neither the captain or the mate
 able to give any satisfactory excus
 for the neglect of the drowning man
 Pu1lon, in his nervous condition threw little light on the actual hap ,- pening today, having only told tn Il police that they were rowing soutl l. for the bridge landing. proceedin if along the shore side when they sa7 d the motorboat coming towards then v sevvhen we saw them coming toward
 Ilss we started for the south side,'' h d continued, "and we got into the mid
 de of the river when they ran squar
 into US. Bartlett must have been hi t by the canoe or else the motorboat. 2 Owing to the proximity of barge L. and tows in the river, which have bee, d found this morning to enter into tn s. case a more explicit statement will b l. Lz5rocrred blythe police this afternoon. L. graphic statement of the affair ; given by Mrs. Bert Jogue, 1855 Orc41ar s- street Yonkers, N. Y, on board tn d tow Blue Ocean of Railway, N. J., a l., eye witness. "A tug was towing tw ,r barges,' she said The sailors cam
 down from the schooner in motor :. boat. hit the canoe and went righ "a over the top of it. Bartlett sank bu "a came up. He sp1ashed the water. Put Ion hung onto the launch and hoIlere :. for help The canoe was back of = coal barge and the motor boat cam = around the end of the barge an ,e struck the canoe" She planes tn 'A motor boat crew for the occurrence ~ ;S drowned, does not say who was | I- blame.
 Mrs. Frank Heggerman, a witness o
 the s"Blue Ocean, saw Pu1lon com -o U BUD and take hod of the motor boa. 1e She saw Bartlett trying to swim. He
 husband ho11ered to Pu1lon to go bac
 for him but no attention was paid 1
 his warning. She thought that th
 power boat was to blame. s'The ere, v- was at the stern of the barge all tn a- way up and the motor boat came rigf tr across them The power boat peop