New-York tribune., 1920-09-14
Chains Bride to
Boat I'm l8-Hr.
Fight for Life
John Archibald Jones, Artist,
Tells of Futile Attempt to
Save Wife i'm Battle
With Lake Michigan Gale
Body Vanished i'm Storm
Husband Righted Dory 3
Times and Burned Clothes
to Attract Passing Ships
s.o,o, n,s,asch to The T,Sn,,,.


RACINE. Wis, Sept. 13.-The story
es the wreck OF the honeymoon yacht"
and the drowning Of Mrs. Anna Mitch
ell Jones. artist and former resident Of
Greenwich Village. New York, Satur-
dsy night, after an eighteen-hour bat
.le with a gale in Lake Michigan, was
told here to-day by her husband, John
Archibald Jones, who also is an artist.
Jones, who married Miss Mitchell, a
wealthy heiress Of Massachusetts. on
August -, a short time after the di-
yorce from his first wife, Elizabeth
Gurley Flynn, "the l. ". W. Joan Of
Arc" is in q hospital here. The skin is
torn from his legs and his face and
body is bruised and cut. When res
cued he was clinging to his boat.
Search was being made to-day for the
body of Mrs. Jones.
The couple had started on their
honeymoon trip a few weeks ago in a
motor and sail dory built by Jones.
Jones was warned that the boat was
not seaworthy. but he said he would
RELY on his ability as sailor to bring
it back safely. His bride placed per-
feet confidence in him.
Tried to Save Wife's Body
In unfolding his story Jones said:
For hours the wind ragged and tore
at US. l fought against the greatest
odds. The boat was capsized three
and each time righted her. When my
bride breathed her last I clung to her
J, body for three hours, hoping to Bring
e her safely to shore. though a corpse.
Oh, if could have but saved her body"
When Jones first told Of his fight
with the storm swept waters and his
righting the boat under such. great
/. odds coast guards at Racine character
Z lied his feat as impossible. Captain
John A. Olander. of the Racine life
saving station, took the opposite view.
"The man was a remarkable sailor"
CAPTAIN Olander said. There are few
: men who can right an 18-foot boat in
the rough sea, but believe Jones did
it. He told me how he utilized the
force of waves at the right moment and
was able to right his boat"
Made Anchor of Sail
p. Jones said: "When the waves came
high after my machine had stalled /
took a sail and made sea anchor OF
it. l filed it with water and threw it
overheard beside my dory as ballast.
then saturated my clothes with gaso-
line and burned them as a signal.
I'VE were dumped into the sea. The
waves were raging. When I had
righted the boat ! tried to lash my
wife to the mast with a three-eighths-
inch steering cable. But she was wet
and slipped through the loop. 1t was
my fight. She was weak and could not
help. Finally I saw she was dead. and
then thought only CT saving her body.
Had it been daylight I could have
managed. but could not find her in
the darkness. when the terrific storm
tossed US apart, and she fell overheard
and sank"
Jones told Of swimming beneath the
boat when it first turned over and
tinkering with the engine. finally man
aging to unscrew it. The engine was
lost, but the boat was lighter.
Jones was picked up by fishing
smack, Sunday morning. nearer dead
than alive. The dory was left at sea-
Jones is president of the Chicago
Dill Pickle Club. 1t holds its meetings
IN an abandoned stable.