Evening star., 1947-07-02
Boy'sDrowniing
for
Cu|vertSafety
BicycIist, II, Is Swept
To Death in Search
Of Haven From Ruin

ItdlllieI IOudy CdlleQ 1Or lnln6-
date safety measures to prevent
a repetition of the tragedy of
last night, when 11-year-old
Richard A. Powell, jr., was swept
to death down a 40O~foot culvert
near the Haywood Gardens
Shopping center during a heavy
rainstorm.
Only a little more than two weeks
ago similar drowning was mar
roWly aVerted when a man and a
woman pulled boy from the waters
OF a flash flood following a similar
doWnpour
Parents and police of the area
said today they had been having
trouble keeping boys of all ages
from playing in the culvert since
1t was completed year ago.
Companions Tell of Flood.
Two other boys who were with
the Powell child when the storm
broke last night said the three of
them had been riding bicycles and
went into the culvert at Eastern
avenue and Varnum street to get
out OF the rain. One of them,
Ellis Bunnell, IA. of 1925 Otis
street NE, said that when thev
entered the tunnel the water was
only ankle deep, but that it rose
rapidly.
Suddenly, he said, a flash flood"
coming from the sudden rain drain
ing from the hills in the area.
swept them from their bicycles. The
three tried to hold to each other.
he said, but Richie" was torn awav
from his companions and sWept
down the culvert. Seconds later the
other Two were separated and also
hurtled through the covered drain.
The three boys emerged from
the tunnel into an open concrete
surfaced ditch which carries drain
water in haywood section into the
northwest branch of the Anacostia
River. Young Bunnell and the
thlrd boy Thomas Doyle, IA, of 1888
Newton street NE, managed to
swim over to the side of the ditch
and scrambled out. The ditch is
approximately 14-feet wide at the
top and 9-feet deep.
Body Found Against Tree.
Brentwood Fire Department Off
GERS found the body of the Powell
child a few minutes later about
three-quarters of mile down the
ditch, pinned against a tree with
his head submerged.
The rescue squad attempted to
revive the child for fully two hours
before he was pronounced dead by
DR.. John p Clum.
DIR. James I. Boyd, State dep
uty medical examiner for Prince
Georges County, said today that he
would issue a certificate of acci-
dental death by drowning. A num-
Der of cuts and bruises were found
on the boys head, but they were not
serious enough to have caused his
death, he added.
Both parents, Mr.. and Mrs. Rich
ard A. Powell, 1923 Newton street
NE, expressed resentment at the
condition of the culvert which would
allow children to be in such danger,
An aunt of the drowned boy, Mrs.
Robert S. Sanchez, of 1928 Living
ston road, Hyattsville Md, said,
1T Is criminal to allow something
like this which can thresh out little
lives so quickly. I can only call this
sewer the backdoor of DEATH"
She said she and other people in
the neighborhood would confer
with the county commissioners, the
Washington Suburban Sanitary
Commission and any other officials
who might be able to help remedy
the situation.
Officials of the Sanitary Commits
sion said today that plans have al
ready been made with the District
government to close the culvert.
| Don O'Reilly of the Commission
said the District had agreed some
time ago that since it emptied water
into the Maryland culvert it was it's
responsibility to complete the con-
! llCSb4Ol1 1lOlll UlAC SlOoCo POL vi
the District drain to the culvert. He
said that about 200 feet of open ditch
separates the end of the District
drain from the opening of the Mary
land culvert.
! Other End Also Opened.
Even this action, however, would
not affect the other opening to the
culvert, which is far more popular
with the children of the neighbor-
hood, since it opens at the public
playground of Haywood Gardens.
The playground proper is separated
from the ditch by a heavy wire
fence.
The community was first aroused
to the dangers of the open culvert
! June IA, when a sudden down.
pour similar to yesterdays storm
prompted LinWood Butler, II, and
Marlyn Wagner, 13, to take refuge
inside the culvert from the rain.
Both were swept through the cul-
vert and downstream by the sudden
rush of water, and young Wagner
was saved only by two adults who
caught him in the ditch about two
blocks from the culvert. The Butler
boy was able to swim to safety.
Police, Firemen Express Concern.
/ Several police and firemen who
were present at last nights accident
said today they had been concerned
for a long time about the insiStence
of children on playing at the open
ends of the culvert.
They quoted Mrs. Powell, mother
of the dead boy, as saying that she
had ordered Richard not go near the
culvert again on threat OF taking his
bicycle away from him. She said she
couldn't understand the fascination
that all boys in the Northeast sec
ton seemed to have for playing in
the culvert.
4 In a traffic accident during last
nights storm, Mrs. Annie Hum
phries, IS, colored, of the 2600 block
of Nichols avenue Sc, suffered Sc
rious injuries when she was struck
by an automobile as she crossed the
road at Nichols avenue and Sumner
road S. E.
The Weather Bureau reported
that "a inches of rain fell during