Milford chronicle., 1937-06-18
EIGHT LOST NB
AT BOWERS WHEN
BOAT FOUNDERS
[ConfinHed from First Page1


when about six miles from shore
the boat struck something under
water" he continued, there was a
scraping sound, 1t lurched, and wa
ter started pouring into the bottom.
I'VE started bailing, but in a short
time we saw we could not keep up
with the water. Captain Davis order
ed us to put ON life preservers and
to stick as close to the boat as we
could.
Il thought the boat was going
down and jumped overheard. Some
chung to the top of the cabin, but
were washed overheard.
Tossed About by Waves
Mckee, Stine, William Dublin.
Bussard, Lynn, and l grabbed hold
of the hatch cover of the engine as
it f1oated by. We all got a good hold
on it, but the storm that came up
made the bay choppy and dashed us
around like a cork.
"Bussard got excited, swallowed
some salt water and started cough
ing. When the next big wave came
along it washed him away and al
though / swan out to save him, he
was too weak to hold on to me and
finally gave up.
Dublin was the next to get sick
from having swallowed so much salt
water and he disappeared a few
hours later.
1T was very dark and terribly
cold and we all began to lose hope.
Lynn slipped away just before dawn.
/ think he was overcome by ex-
haustion.
FINALLY a short time after dawn
we saw help coming. 1t was boat.
We couldn't believe it at first. We
thought we had gone mad and it
was a mirage or that they would
not see us. But they did"
None of the three survivors is eX-
pected to suffer any serious i'll CT
fects from their narrowing expert
ence. All were suffering from shock
and exposure, but Stoddart is ex-
pected to be able to leave the Eos
pital soon. Mckee is also recover
ing, and although Slime was the
WOESl dlCClCu 10 AAOt ia a oNA AOho
condition.
The three were picked up by the
fishing boat Freckles under the
command of Capt. George Hornyak
of Bowers Beach, who had gone out
early Tuesday morning with chief
of Police Joseph Longacre in search
of the survivors.
Patrol Boats 131 and 9S7 of the
Coast Guard picked up the body OF
Elmer a short time before the sur
vivors were found. Later they dis
covered the bodies of four others.
The body of Captain Davis was
picked up by the crew of the fish
ing boat, Ida ii. early Tuesday af-
ternoOn, and that of Watson hy a
boat under the command of Capt. OIL
lie Moore late Tuesday afternoon.
Both these bodies had f1oated more
than eight miles from where the
Teal went down.
Davis was the son of Mr.. and Mrs.
John Davis of Bowers Beach. He was
TO have been married next month.
Elmer was manager of the Column
MA IdIh lCdtH HI NiAC SoeSA 80
tcOna League and was also an all
around player for the team. He was
married a year ago and leaves his
wife. Dorothy. a child two months
old, and his parents.
Bodies Are Identified
All of the bodies were removed to
a Dover funeral home and were
identified bv members of the fami-
lies during the afternoon.
A rreliminarv investigation OF the
Zeal failed to show the cause of the
accident II was towed TO Bowers
Reach where II was found a nlank |
rqd heen rinned from the hull. Int
what caused the hole was not def
nitalv known. Tho ignition switch
mad been turned off.