Show foght FOR N WATERS st paul nearly three hours the other night charlie white and johnny king half breeds living at mendota fought for their lives in the icy waters of the mississippi river near fort snelling finally being res cued by mounted patrolman tom mooney of th prior avenue night de tall and john carpenter an expert encee river man for three hours the men struggled alth the current managing to keep their heads above water by clinging to a blender limb of a river willow which threatened to snap at any man ute about six clock in the evening white and king were rowing down the river after ac afternoon s fishing ind had reached the halt submerged Is and just below the fort snelling bridge when the boat floated into an eddy instantly the board bottomed heavy flatboat was twirled about as though it were a feather and the instant it overturned white and king made a derpera despera e effort to reach the boat but it was swept beyond them by the current by a hard swim against the current the men managed to reach a willow tree growing on the island and of which the upper limbs alone were visible king seized one branch and white another but whites branch was no able to bear his weight and snapped none of the remaining branches was heavy enough to sustain bis weight and he was obliged to cling to the branch to which king was hanging clinging tor life to the branch with the water surging about their necks white and king struggled tor two hours with the waters of the river which swollen by the heavy rains were rising shouting was of no avail and they were about to eve up in despair when king noticed a man walking along the bluet on the east side of the river both men shouted desperately and succeeded in attracting his attention calling to the drowning men to bold on the man on the bank thomas keough who lives near fort snelling ran to the head of the bridge for help there he found mounted patrolman mooney and john carpenter mooney started across the bridge at a run followed by carpenter side by side the men raced to the foit snelling side and down the steep bluff to tha ferry where they were sure of find ing a boat it was the work of an instant to launch a small rowboat and in a few seconds the small craft was speeding toward the lower end of the island the darkness was intense and the wind and rain together with the river spray rendered the trip precarious but tor the tact that a man who haq most of his life on the sota river was at the helm the boat probably would have capsized guided by the shouts of the strand ed men the boat slowly fought inq way through the water gliding past low river bushes and through long stretches of willows at a sharp bend in the river the boat rounded the southern point of the island and a few feet ahead king and white hands still clinging to the willow aa the boat approached it bould be seen that the water had risen to the mena chins and ruffled by the wind frequently dashed over their heads king seemed on the point of sinking when the boat reached him and grabbed madly at the oar nearest to him throwing off bis coat and vest patrolman mooney knelt in the rear of the boat as it swept by kinga seized him by the collar and dragged him into the boat the halt breed sank limply and the boat swung sharply against the current and head ed in towards the island a second time white on the verge of fainting became frantic with fear and crying out that he was drowning suddenly released his grasp and sank into the waters even as the man loosened bla hold patrolman mooney lurched forward and burying his arm beneath the water managed to grasp white by the hair in another second he was hauled into the rear of the boat where he lay tainting i the rescue was now partially but the fight to land waa still to be made and the boat was over laden in the open channel the fight was a desperate one the wind and water seeming to combar to work the destruction of the crew finally the nose 0 the craft grated on thai shore and the rescue was complete king and white were hurried to a switchman s shanty near by and to bed both were exhausted and in a state of collapse |