Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Clyde Spore Drowning
July
14, 1912
High School boy Drowns in Harbor
Three Hundred People Witness Drowning Accident –
Attempts at Rescue Fail
CLYDE SPORE, Oshkosh High School Student, Meets
Tragic Death at Calumet aHrbor [sic]
CLYDE SPORE, an Oshkosh High school
student, seventeen years of age, met a tragic
death by drowning in sight of about 300 people
at Calumet Harbor Sunday afternoon.
He was the only son of
Mr. And Mrs. George H. Spore, of
Oshkosh. His father is the drummer in the Arion
band and orchestra.
The young man was in swimming with two
companions, Roy
Cornelius, aged twenty-one, and
George Hinz,
aged eighteen years, and it was while trying to
swim gack [sic] from the reef on the outer side
of the channel at the harbor entrance that he
became distressed. He began to cry, “Help, help
me.”
Cornelius
and Hinz
swam to their companion, who grasped hold of
them so tightly they were in great danger of
being drowned, themselves. Cornelius admonished
SPORE to
take things easy, but the latter had swallowed
considerable water, was tired, and frightened.
The other two were carried under water when
SPORE clung
to them and then they swam ahead, trying to
encourage Spore to keep up a little longer. He
again shouted for help, however, and the other
swimmers took up the cry.
It was only then that the picnic parties at
Calumet Harbor realized there was trouble in the
water. Different persons who were on shore
asserted afterward they distinctly heard the
first cries of the drowning boy, but thought he
was laughing. This seeming mockery of death,
this fatal deception in sounds, cost the life of
a clean, promising young man.
Efforts To Save
During the next minute or two the park became a
place of tense anxiety, for when the combined
cries for help were heard, picnicker’s deserted
their dinners and rushed to the shore.
There, less than 300 feet from the rocks, they
saw a young man battling against the wind and
waves; heard two other young men, with drawn
faces, and standing neck deep in water, nearly
exhausted from their efforts, calling to the lad
further out to keep on, that only twenty feet
away was a reef and safety; heard the lad reply,
“I can’t make it. Help. Help.”
Then the distressed swimmer went under, once,
and came up gurgling o nly [sic] to resume his
fight. He went down a second time, and came up
weaker. In a few moments he was under again, and
did not reappear.
Before this time, however, cooler heads had
acted. Two men, whose names were not learned,
had thrown off their outer garments, plunged
into the lake, and swam out to attempt the
rescue. One athletic fellow, regardless of
purse, or watch, went into the water just as he
was, and worked like a Trogan [sic] hero, but
without avail. Another man had managed to find a
rowboat tied up with the Oshkosh launch,
Naomi, and he rowed to the harbor entrance
as fast as he could.
William Tannewitz of Oshkosh was on
the fatal spot almost as soon as
SPORE
disappeared, and he dived in the deep water,
until he was almost exhausted. The man who had
taken the rowboat found he was too late, and it
was only then that the men and women on shore
realized they had seen a drowning – that they
had seen a young man go down to his death in the
cruel waters.
James H. Jones
and William T. Arnold
of Oshkosh and a number of others at the park
determined not to give up the work and for an
hour they rowed over and over the place where
SPORE went
down, probing the bottom with a long pike pole
and a boat hook in the effort to locate and
bring up SPORE’S body. Had the body been brought
up within that length of time it was felt life
could possibly have been revived by means of
resusciation (sic) measures, inasmuch as a well
known Oshkosh physician was at the park, ready
to assist in the work of artificial respiration.
Within a few minutes of the time SPORE went down
there were several men diving for the body and
one or two of them could not have striven more
faithfully had the man on the bottom been their
own brother. It was only a short time before
other rowboats came up and crossed and recrossed
the place with hooks dragging and long poles
tracking on the bottom. But as hard as men
worked, it was useless, for at 6 o’clock the
body had not been found. And the drowning
occurred at 2 o’clock.
Meantime there was work cut out for some of
those on land.
Cornelius and
Hinz, after
their companion had gone down, waded wisely to
shore. Hinz, the younger man, was exceedingly
tired but was soon able to help himself, but
Cornelius fell utterly exhausted on the rocks,
and seemed likely to slip back into the water
when men grasped him and carried him to the
grass in the shade of trees. The Oshkosh
physician give his assistance and
Cornelius was
taken to the park hotel, where he was restored.
The young man had swallowed so much water that
for a time he was in a serious condition.
Saw Him go Down
C. E. Cleveland,
president of the Giddings and
Lewis
Manufacturing company, together with this wife
and members of his family were at Calumet Harbor
when the accident took place. They were in their
auto which had been run to a point near the
channel edge and commanded a clear view of the
scene of the drowning.
Mr. Cleveland said this morning that his
attention was attracted by shouts for help which
came from a group of swimmers who were about one
hundred feet from shore and on a line with the
south side of the boat channel. There were three
swimmers in the group and one of them had
evidently become exhausted or suffered from a
cramp. One of his companions tried to save him,
but nearly lost his own life in the attempt
having only strength enough to break away and
struggle to the shallow water. He was in an
exhausted condition when he was taken into the
hotel nearby and required the attention of
physicians.
Mr. Cleveland stated that he saw the young come
up twice and then disappear for the third and
last time. There were no boats nearby to give
assistance. The drowning took place about an
hour before the arrival of the steamer from Fond
du Lac. There was a big crowd in the park at the
time.
Searching for Body
At 2 o’clock this afternoon the body had not
been found although seven men using grappling
hoods had been prosecuting the search all
morning. George H.
Spore, father of the boy, arrived at
Calumet Harbor early this morning to wait until
the body was brought to the surface.
Daily Commonwealth, Fond Du Lac,
Wisconsin, 15 Jul 1912
Are Still Searching
At 3:30 o’clock this afternoon the body of
CLYDE SPORE,
the Oshkosh boy drowned while bathing at Calumet
harbor Sunday afternoon, had not been brought to
the surface. It is thought now the body will be
found some distance from the place where the boy
sank. The belief is that undercurrents have
carried the body away.
Daily Commonwealth, Fond Du Lac,
Wisconsin, 15 Jul 1912
EXTRA
Body is Recovered – Calumet Harbor Gives up
Drowning Victim when Hook Catches Clothing -
Body is in Good Condition
Special to The Daily Commonwealth
Calumet Harbor, Wis., July 16
The body of CLYDE
SPORE, the Oshkosh high school
student who was drowned Sunday afternoon in the
steamer channel several hundred feet from the
harbor entrance was recovered at 2 o’clock this
afternoon by means of a drag hook, a boy from
Johnsburg who was in the rowboat with several
other boys, hooking the body.
When dragged to the surface and in to a boat the
body was found to be in good condition, the
features being free from any swelling. The body
was placed on the Cornelius launch and taken to
Oshkosh at once.
Daily Commonwealth, Fond Du Lac,
Wisconsin, 16 Jul 1912
Articles transcribed by
Kay. Thank you,
Kay!
 Search
for more information on the Oshkosh drowning
and other disasters in the Historic
Newspapers Collection. The number of
newspapers on line has recently doubled - search
over 1000 different newspapers. Use this
Free trial to search for your ancestors.
Search for ancestors in
Oshkosh, WI among billions of names at ancestry.com. Use this
Free trial to search for your ancestors.
Wisconsin Births
1820-1907 & Wisconsin
Marriages pre-1907
Use this
Free trial to search for your ancestors.
|
