The daily banner., 1919-04-28
AUTO PLUNCES
into RIVER
Backs OFF Ferry at Phi|adeI-
phia and three Drown.
SIX OTHERS ARE SAVED
Army Captain Rescues Four as, Hor-
ror Stricken Passengers on Vessel
Look on.

Army Captain Rescues Four as Hor-
ror Stricken Passengers on Vessel
Look on
Philadelphia. April 2S.-Three per-
sons drowned when large touring
car in which they were riding crash
ed through the safety gates on the
rear deck of the Pennsylvania rail-
road ferryboat Camden and plunged
into the Delaware river at the foot
of Market street, this city.
Through the heroism Of Captain F.
w. D'Olier, Of Moorestown, n. j., a
United States army officer, five other
occupants Of the car were rescued.
The dead are: Mrs. Leah Watkins,
fifty years old; Mrs. Anna Watkins,
thirty years old; Spencer Watkins,
two years old.
Those rescued were: Albert Wilson.
Mrs. Leah Wilson, Richard Wilson,,
five months old; Miss Beatrice Wat
kins, Leah Watkins, five years old.
Mrs. Leah Watkins died on the deck
Of the ferrybooat after Captain D'Olier
had brought her from the river. The
bodies of Mrs. Anna Watkins and her
two-year-old son, Spencer, were pin
ned beneath the wreckage Of the ma
chine and were not recovered up until
late hour.
According to Albert Wilson, driver
Of the machine, which had been bor-
rowed from a neighbor, Finley Nc
Neal, 952 East Chelten avenue, Ger.
mantown, the party had been on a
tour of South Jersey. At half past
four they boarded the ferryboat Cam
den on the Camden side Of the river.
So closely were the automobiles
packed upon the ferryboat, according
to Mr.. Wilson, that the rear wheels
of the Wilson machine, which was the
last to board the boat, were only two
feet away from the safety gates on
the rear deck.
When the boat warped into the slip
on the Philadelphia side Of the river,
the force of the impact with the wharf
Jared loose the safety brake, Wilson
said. Immediately, the automobile slid
backward and crushed through the
iron gate. Wilson quickly threw on
the brakes, but it was too late.
With a splash that attracted the at.
tention of hundreds of passengers on
the boat, the machine hit the water,
carrying along its eight occupants.
Harror-stricEen, the other passen-
gers watched the machine and its oc-
xe,e NIB hal tho n q
Of the water.
Captain D'Oller quickly seized life
preserver, adjusted it, and plunged in
to the water. A few seconds later he
reappeared, with Mrs. Leah Wilson,
five-months-old Richard Wilson and
little Leah Watkins in his arms. Sup
ported by the life preserver, Captain
D'Ofler tread water and reached the
side of the boat, where other rescuers
took the woman and two small chill
dren from his arms. Z
Climbing to the rear deck of the
boat, Captain D'Oller again dived into
the water. This time he succeeded IN
bringing up Beatrice Watkins. Swiftly
passing her to the men on the boat,
D'Oller, although weak from exhaus-
ton, gamely plunged again into the
river. In a few seconds he reappear-
ed with the unconscious form Of Mrs.
Leah Watkins, and struggled bravely
through the water until she also had
been brought to the deck of the boat.
In the meantime, Mr.. Wilson had
come to the surface and had been pull
I'D to safety by the spectators