New Ulm review., 1922-06-28
TEN YEAR OLD BIERAUCEL LAD
DROWNED IN MINNESOTA
LAST THURSDAY. F
BODY NOT RECOVERED TILL
FRIDAY MORNING-THRoNGs 4
SHOW SYMPATHY. =" 4 IA

nesota river while bathing at the swim
ming place under the bridge by. TIE
Eagle Mills last Thursday afternoon.
Several other boys in the bathing party
failed to rescue the young lad altho
he came to the surface two or three
times. The body going down tie
last time into the murky waters Of
the Minnesota was not recovered till
about 7 o'clock the following morning
despite continual attempts by citi-
zens, diving, dragging the river bot
tom, and by unsuccessful use of dyns-
mite charges in the hope Of getting
the little body to the surface.
Clarence Couldn't Swim.
The sad accident occurred at 8
o'clock Thursday afternoon. Little
Clarence could swim but little and
dressed in pair of pants in lieu Of
a bathing suit, he was swinging upon
rope under the west end Of the bridge.
The water is not deep right near the
bank, but drops to depth of about
twenty feet few yards from the bank
The older boys Of the party, fairly
good swimmers, some Of them, were
over near the opposite bank. When
last seen before the fatal accident,
little Clarence was swinging back and
forth in the water hanging on to the
rope suspended from the bridge. The
lower end of the rope was slippery
from the water and evidently the lads
hold had slipped and he went over
the ledge into the deep water.
Marti Lad Attempts Rescue.
Benedict Marti, slightly older lad,
didn't see him 60 down the first time
but caught the situation in a glance
as the body came up. He made a
lunge in an attempt at rescue, but not
being very good swimmer himself,
didn't succeed in getting hold.
Pete Sinmet, who was near the
other bank, quickly swan across, but
too late to get Clarence before he went
down the last time. Pete made a
dozen or more dives, but without sue
cess. ~.
Some of the boys then drove a car
up town and reported the drowning to
the authorities. The alarm spread
quickly and hundreds Of citizens went
Immediately to give what aid they
could. Launches cruised up and down
the river, men in boats dragged the
rocky bottom, good divers went down
continuously all afternoon, and dyma-
mite was finally resorted to in an at
tempt to raise the body by the con-
cussion of the explosions, but all to-
no avail. t'" <$ - ~.
Deep Shock to Father.
The father of the boy was down
town and knew nothing Of the fatal
accident till almost two hours after il
occurred, when upon returning to his
home he received the crushing news
He hurried to the river and was al
most frantic in his sorrow. ''Is that
my little boy that should be drownded
Oh, my God," he cried out. Aftel
getting the meager details from Bene
dict Marti, the grief-stricken father
stepped aside from the crowd and wep
quietly. ''It is hard enough to los'
your child through death followin,
Sickness but to have him suddenl,
snatched away through drowning wa
almost more than he could bear, HI
later tearfully declared, while scores o
people did their best to comfort TIL
man.
Il Long Search For Body.
Search for the missing body con
tinued all thru the afternoon and night
Among the searchers were Math
Petersen, old clam fisher, who dragge
the bottom of the river with his clar
hooks attached to his gasoline scoW
This clam fishing outfit is long ba
with numerous clam hooks suspende
from it, the hooks dragging on th
bottom made to pick up CLAIMS.
was with this outfit that Mr.. Pederse
finally succeeded in hooking fast in th
boys bathing pants and bringing tt
little body to the surface about
o'clock Friday morning. Mr.. Pederse
had gone home about 10 o'clock b,
resumed work with the clam hooks
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