The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1934-06-08
find BODIES
knife Lake
Remains of Waino Havila and
/, Elmo Aalto Found Floating
Sunday and Monday.

The body of one of the men drowned
in Knife Lake on May IA was found
floating on the afternoon of Sunday
by the game wardens who have kept
sharp lookout since dragging was dis
continued early last week.
Chief Warden Hanson telephoned the
news of the finding from the Canadian
Border Lodge. The undertaken at Vir-
ginia was notified and he with relatives
Of the unfortunate men came up Mon
day for the purpose of identifying the
body.
Oscar Ringnel in the Scenic Anyways
plane took the Virginia party to Knife
Lake, distance of about 40 miles from
this city. The floating body had been
anchored by the wardens pending the
arrival of the coroner. While on the
way to where the body had been tied
up. the other body was found by MIR.
Ringnel and party, also afloat.
The first body was identified as that
OF Elmo Aalto of Virginia and the second
as that of Waino Havila of Hutter.
They were dashed to the pontoonS of
the plane and brought to this city
on Monday evening and later taken to
Virginia by hearse. Pilot Ringnel in
formed the Miner that both bodies
were in very bad condition and that
Identification was made through articles
in the pockets of the men.
Elmo Aalto and Waino Havila with
Arvid johnson were fishing in Knife
Lake when their boat capsized during
a high wind. All chung to the boat and
tried to propel it to the shore quarter
Of a mile away. When within about
zoo feet of their goal, the strength of
Aalto and Havila gave out in the
chilly waters and both sank. johnson
chung to the boat and eventually
reached shore.
Knife Lake is deep body of cold
water and there was remote possibility
that the bodies would not be recovered.
The crews dragged the lake con-
tinuously for two weeks and last week
gave up the dragging in the hopes
that the bodies would come to the
surface. However, this was considered
a mere possibility as it was familiar
talk among woodsmen that the lake
never gave up dts dead. The frigid
temperature of the water is considered
such as to delay the chemical process
natural within the bodies in warmer
water which would cause them to rise
to the surface. There is also the repu-
tation of the lake as a fisherman's
paradise for the big lake trout and it Is
claimed that there are now several
bodies in the waters which were never
recovered. Some remark that while
it is fisherman's paradise it is also
gaining a reputation of being fisher
mans graveyard.
The crews of seven men have al
ternated DIN the search for the bodies
and the work had gone on from 10 to
IA hours day up to the time dragging
was discontinued. The crews claimed
that the huge hooks would assume the
temperature of the depths and could
scarcely be handled without gloves when
brought to the surface
Members of the searching party have
expressed wonder and admiration for
the stamina and fortitude shown by
Arvid Johnson, Virginia, sole survivor
of the Inflated fishing expedition, not
only for his almost Superhuman ex-
perience in bringing word of the tragedy
to civilization, but also for his courage
and unfailing hopefulneSs in the search
for the bodies.
They regard as little short of mir
aculous JohnSon's arrival at the William
Berglund cabin on Knife Lake, eight
miles from the scene of the drownings,
in less than six hours, all things con-
sidered.
After being precipitated into the lake
and after the two men had given up
the struggle, johnson chung on and with
his last strength made the shore, only
to fall into coma from cold and ex-
haustion. He estimates that he lay
unconscious for nearly two hours.
Regaining his senses, he pulled the
boat upon shore, emptied it Of water,
fashioned oarlocks of tree forks, re-
launched the craft and rowed eight
miles to the Berglund cottage with word
of the tragedy. The accident is believed
to have occurred shortly after l O'Clock
in the afternoon and he reached Berg
lunds resort about that evening.
Summoned to the search from VIM
ton, it took the rescue party five hours
of steady travelling to reach the point
on shore of which the men drowned.
They travelled by automobile 10 miles
and the remaining % miles by water
and portage. Five portages were made.
the longest one of half a mile length
They arrived at the scene at night,
but by strange coincidence, they
beached their boat on the exact spot
where johnson had reached shore and
directly OF the scene of the tragedy.
Te marks where the survivor had
emptied the craft were in the sand and
the tree overhead revealed where john
son had obtained his oarlocks.
The search was carried on during the