New-York tribune., 1919-05-19
Three Drowned in
He'll Gate When 2
Launches Capsize
Current Sweeps Men Under
Dredge, Woman, Among
Seven Saved, Crawls Up
Anchor Chain to Safety

Two motorboats were capsized yes
terday in He'll Gate off Hallet's Point,
Astoria, throwing ten persons, one of
them woman and one a boy, into the
swirling currents. The boy and two of
the men are missing and thought to be
drowned. The others were rescued by
rowboats that put out from the Astoria
shore or swan to safety.
Those reported by the police as
missing and thought to be drowned"
are William Schell, fifty, of 1862 East
156th Street, The Bronx; Joseph Agalo,
siXty-tive, of 131 Woolsey Street, As
toria, and Amelo Nelson, fifteen, of 13
Trowbridge Street, Astoria. The boats
were the Lily E., owned by Schell, and
one owned by Nick Provo, of 40 Hoyt
Avenue, Astoria.
The Lily E. 20-foot boat, with
Schell in charge, had on board an ex-
cursion party consisted Of four other
men and a woman. 1t was forging
slowly up toward Wards Island against
strong ebb tide Off Hallett's Point,
the site Of the Old Fort Stephens Ath-
letic Grounds, which were thronged
with ballplayers and fans, the engine
Of the Lily f. stalled.
At Mercy of Current
In a moment the current had twisted
the boat broadside on and, with the
shoreward momentum given by the
Mill Rocks in the centre of the chan
mel, drove the little craft toward the
rocks of Hallett's Point. Schnell tin
kered frantically with his engine. The
tossing of the boat in the trough of
the chop hampercd his endeavors and
it soon became evident that the craft
would foul big dredge anchored 15O
yards off shore
The woman, who some said had g
baby in her arms, was shrieking in ter
ror and there was a general rush from
the ball fields to the shore Provos
motorboat, which was driving southwark
with the current, swerved to the rescue
of the Lily E. and reached it's side Just
as the boat hit an anchor chain of the
dredge and careened
With its upstream guAwale dipping
into the waves the Lily z. was pressed
tight against the chain. Those aboard
boosted the woman to the upper gun
vale and, with what those ashore
thought was a child in her arms, she
began slowly to Chamber up the steep
chain twenty or thirty feet to the
dredge.
Dredgemen Save Woman
There were three men aboard the
dredge, which is owned by the New
York and New Jersey Shipbuildne
Company, and is engaged in deeping
the channel. One of them clambered
down the anchor chain and passed the
woman up to his comrades above, who
hauled her over the rail
In the meantime Provo had made q
line fast to the bow Of the Lily E. anc
started to tow her. His little boat was
unequal to the task and as soon as
the Lily +. had been dislodged from
the dredgc's cable both boats were
swept against the steep, high sides o1
the dredgc They rolled over, spilling
their occupants out on the upstream
side, only to be sucked down immedi
ately and carried beneath the dredge
Two of them did not appear on the
downstream side Of the dredge at all
The others emerged swimming BS
this time rowboats, sons W raen
manned by youths in ballplayers' uni
forms, had put off from Iallett's
Point. OF the seven men who hac
bobbed up below the dredge one swan
ashore, five were hauled into rowboats
and one was swept down through Hell
Gate before oarsmen could reach him