People's Pilot, Volume 5, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 November 1895 — FIVE MEN DROWNED. [ARTICLE]

FIVE MEN DROWNED.

OYSTER DREDGE SUNK WITH ALL ON BOARD. Crew of the James W. Boyle Go Down to Death Without a Chance of Escape —Vessel Turns Bottom Side Up and Traps the Men. New York, Nov. 14. —The steamboat James W. Boyle, technically known as an oyster dredge, foundered off the bell buoy at Rockaway Inlet yesterday, and all on board were drowned. She was on her way from Bridgeport, Conn., to Rockaway, with a cargo of seed oysters, which were to be planted there. She was chartered by Walter B. Wood of Inwood, L. 1., from her owner, James W. Boyle, the well-known Tammany leader, after whom she is named. The drowned were: WALTER B. WOOD, 40, oyster planter and charter, Inwood, L. I. PETER J. M’DONALD, 28, captain, Princess Bay, S. I. JOHN FINN, 38, engineer, Rondout, N. Y. JOHN CARROLL, 31, cook and deckhand, Hoboken, N. J. JOHN NEWBURY, 40, deckhand, Tottenville, N. Y. The wreck was sighted by the tug Mutual. When the tug drew sufficiently near to disclose the floating upper woodwork of the wrecked steamer plainly, it was seen that there was no sign of life about the wreckage. It had been hoped that the crew of the steamer, all of whom were good sailors, would be found clinging to the floating woodwork. Captain Deakin ran the prow of jiis tug deliberately and with hard force into the pilot house, for the purpose of breaking it, and recovering any bodies that might be within. As the timbers of this structure and of the wooden cabin attached to it were shattered, mattresses, pillows, and chairs floated out, but no bodies. For more than an hour the Mutual remained in the vicinity, and did not leave until it was absolutely certain that none of the crew was alive. The probabilities are that the Boyle was so rapidly turned bottom-side up by the enormous waves that the men were buried under her, and had no chance for their lives.