Media coverage of recreational boat propeller accidents prior to 1950.

We suspect many of the very early accidents involved inboard / shaft driven boats (called launches back then). The earliest propeller accident we have found to mention the word “outboard” is reported in the 22 June 1914 Miami Herald Report. We are still adding media coverage of pre 1950 propeller accidents as time permits.

• 31 May 1903 Idaho Statesman “Drowned at Whatcom” reports Lewis Maithew was boating in Billingham Bay this afternoon. While his launch was underway, he walked off the stern, was struck by the propeller, and died.
• July 1903 “The Death of Big Ed Delehanty” covered in 15 August 2008 Sports Complex blogs reports Philadelphia Phillies famous outfield in the 1890’s included “Big Ed” Delahanty. The blog cites a 9 July 1903 New York Times story titled, Baseball Player Swept Over Niagara. Mr. Delahanty had been unruly on a train so the conductor made him get off on the Canadian side of bridge over the Niagara River. He started to walk across the bridge, a night watchman tried to stop him, and he fell through the open drawbridge. When his body was found, “one leg was torn off, presumably by the propeller of the Maid of the Mist …” as he was found near the Maid of the Mist landing.
• 17 September 1903 Times-Picayune (Louisiana) “Louisianian Has Leg Mangled by Propeller of Launch” reports Henry Griffin started for Port Arthur Texas this morning from across the Lake at Johnsons Bayou Louisiana on his launch named Louisiana. When entering the channel, the boat leaned to one side, he jumped overboard, the boat righted itself, he caught hold of the boat, and his left leg was thrown into the propeller “where it was mangled to pieces.” His leg was later amputated.
• 26 August 1907 Philadelphia Inquirer “Drowns When Hair Caught in Propeller” reports from New York, Mrs. Thomas Andre, was on a gasoline launch with her family about 8:30 pm August 25th at Rockway Beach. The launch was overturned by wind near Barren Island, then righted itself. The young boys onboard were able to swim back to the launch and cling to it. Mrs. Andre swam to the boat, but her hair became entangled in the propeller, she went under, and drowned.
• 23 May 1908 Philadelphia Inquirer “Inventor Injured by His Own Creation” reports James Endicott, age 24 of Philadelphia, was testing a propeller for his motorboat by spinning it with an electric motor at his home. A nut broke, the prop flew into the air, and struck him in the face. Endicott was taken to West Philadelphia Homeopathic Hospital.
• 18 July 1909 Trenton Evening News (New Jersey) “Find Man’s Leg When Dragging Canal for Boy” reports crews were dragging the canal near the Southward Street Bridge for the body of a six year old boy on 17 July when they pulled up a man’s leg. It was thought the leg might belong to a many who drowned near there about four months earlier. “It is believed that the leg was cut off by a boat propeller.”
• 30 August 1909 Bridgeton Evening News (New Jersey) “Pleasure Seeker Badly Injured” reports Walter Bradford of Bridgeton was on a powerboat with some friends on the River at Black Creek about noon 29 August. The tide lowered, the boat grounded, he got out to push the boat off, the boat began to move, he was getting in and he became caught in the propeller blades on one side and a guard on the other. Bradford was entrapped in the propeller by his trowsers, held to the bottom of the boat, they had to cut him loose, and he was taken onboard in intense pain. He received cuts several inches below the knee and a gash near his hip and was taken to Greenwich for treatment.
• 24 May 1910 Muskegon Chronicle “Leg Broken in Three Places” reports from Cadillac Michigan. Dannie Sheeler, a six year old boy, was walking on a motorboard, a board broke, “his foot become tangled in the propeller shaft”, the engine was quickly stopped, but his leg was broken in three places.
• 12 July 1910 Boston Journal (Massachusetts) “Manchester Man Drowns in River” reports from Wilmington Delaware, Thomas Donovan, 28 of Manchester New Hampshire, with the Coast Guard Artillery of Fort Mott New Jersey was in a launch 11 July in the Delaware River. He fell overboard, was struck by the propeller, and “did not rise.”
• 18 August 1910 Baltimore American (Massachusetts) “Leg Crushed in Notor-Boat Jacob Wagner Serious Hurt: Craft Was Aground” reports Jacob Wagner of Baltimore was in a motorboat named the Moonlight owned and operated by another gentleman that ran aground on a sandbar off the Stoney Creek Hotel a little before midnight Tuesday 16 August. While trying to push the boat off the sandbar, Mr. Wagner slipped, his left leg was drawn under the non-rotating propeller, and he was entrapped. It was some time before he could be freed. A doctor came by in a launch about an hour after the accident, dressed his wounds, and had Mr. Wagner brought to Baltimore where he was then taken by ambulance to his home, and later to Franklin Square Hospital. They anticipate his left leg will be amputated below the knee.
• 16 June 1911 Marietta Journal (Georgia) “Fire Chief Mace Morris Meets With Accident” reports Fire Chief Mace Morris finished swimming and was climbing into a motorboat at Bull Sluice on Thursday 8 June. His right foot was near the propeller as the motor started and the prop “cut his right foot very badly.” He came to Marietta to have his foot tended to.
• 1 July 1911 Boston Journal “Human Arm Clogs Boat’s Propeller” reports from Burlington Vermont, a light house keeper was taking a party on a trip Wednesday night 28 June. Just a few yards from the boathouse, the prop failed to work. He reversed the engine and witnesses saw a human arm and a hand ejected above the water. The body parts quickly sank. They may belong to a missing Vermont student.
• 7 August 1911 Boston Journal “Pitches Into Water, is Hit by Propeller” reports John W. Anderson, age 25 of South Boston, was on his 30 foot launch, the Julia B. on Sunday 6 August in Boston Harbor. He lost his balance while moving to a seat further toward the bow, fell overboard, “being drawn by the wash of the boat into the propeller”, was struck by the propeller, knocked unconscious, and drowned before his companions could aid him in the fog, heavy traffic, and forty feet deep waters.
• 12 August 1911 Trenton Evening News (New Jersey) “Feet Caught in Boat Propeller” reports William Tillinghast was swimming in the Delaware River the afternoon of 11 August with friends. A powerboat, the Mary of Trenton, passed by, he grabbed the stern and called for the operator to slow down, Tillinghast lost his grip, “and was caught in the revolving propeller.” His feet were badly cut and he was carried home.
• 7 August 1912 Pawtucket Times (New York) “Judge Kapper Injured” reports Isaac M. Kapper, a Supreme Court Justice from Brooklyn was vacationing with family in Cape Vincent. He was fishing on the St. Lawrence River a few days ago in his motorboat, leaned out, a wave struck the boat, he fell overboard, and managed to hold on with both hands till a guide stopped the engine, but not before his legs were cut by the “rapidly turning propeller.”
• 12 August 1912 “Boat Propeller Kills Boy” Chicago Times reports Leo McNulty, age 13 of Chicago, and his brother Robert, age 8, were landing a boat at “Old Dock” on Lake Harbor today. Leo fell over the stern and was killed by the propeller. His brother Robert suffered a similar “probably fatal injury”.
• 8 Oct 1912 Propeller Shaft – “Miscellaneous: Auckland” Evening Post (Auckland New Zealand) reports a Miss Zoe Lee was crossing Purangi Bar in a launch on 6 October 1912, slipped, fell backward, struck her head on the floor and the propeller shaft caught her hair. It brought the engine up standing. She was taken to a hospital with a severe scalp wound and shock.
• 15 July 1913 Philadelphia Inquirer “Yachtsman Loses Life” reports Thomas Heyes was crossing the bar in front of Manasquan River Inlet on 14 July in his 18 foot motorboat. He was thrown from his boat, and suffered two blows from the propeller, one to his head and one above his heart. Mr. Heyes died from those injuries.
• 22 June 1914 Miami Herald Report (Florida) “Lacerated by a Boat Propeller” reports John Chafer, a 12 year old boy, He was at the Bay yesterday and stopped at a launch owned by his father, the Lady Bug, while his father was onboard a larger boat. The Lady Bug was “fitted with an engine of the Evinrude type” that is easy to attach and detach to the stern of small boats. It is thought that John started the engine and fell over the stern into the propeller. He was taken to the city hospital with a gash in his forehead and a bone fractured in his face. We suspect many of the very early accidents were shaft drives, this is one of the earliest to specifically mention outboard power
• 14 June 1915 Miami Herald Record (Florida) “Heroism of a Seaman One Leg Cut Off by Propeller” reports from San Diego California of a Harry Johnson, a 19 year old seaman about the gunboat Annapolis. He was helping to lower the sail day out from San Diego. He hit his head on the bow when he fell in, receiving an eight inch gash to his forehead. He knew he had to swim or risk being hit by the prop so he swam under the ship trying to avoid the propeller, but one of his legs was cut off by the propeller close to his hip and the other one was horribly crushed by the prop. He still managed to swim to a life buoy where he was later rescued by his crew. About a week later, his other leg had to be amputated due to gangreene infection.
• 4 September 1914 Tulsa World “City News in Brief” reports John Cowden returned yesterday (3 September) from Hollister Missouri where he and a friend spent the last ten days. Mr. Cowden is now on crutches as a result of getting “his feet tangled up in the propeller of a motor boat”.
• 5 July 1915 Airboat – Dallas Morning News “Captain of Launch Loses Arm” reports Captain D.G. Price, age 76, was on his airboat, Miss Mildred, which he built yesterday 4 July at Sabine Lake. About noon, a bolt loosened, he tried to repair the problem without shutting down the propeller, his right arm was caught in the propeller and severed at the wrist. Another man onboard tied a handkerchief around his arm to help stop the blood. Then Mr. Price piloted his airboat back to Orange Texas (about 11 miles) to medical aid. He was then taken to the hospital in Beaumont.
• 20 May 1918 Airboat – Daily Alaska Dispatch “Injured Lad May Survive” reports George Bowers, about 20, was operating an airboat on the Alseck River. He stepped on a loose board and was thrown into the propeller, then into the river, and the propeller was broken off at the shank. A 19 year old young man along with him jumped in and rescued him. The airboat was part of a fleet of three used to run salmon from upriver to the cannery. George Bowers was taken to St. Ann’s hospital Saturday morning 18 May.
• 29 Aug 1923 “Motor Boat Goes On After Killing Girl”. New York Times reports a 15 year old girl, Virginia Johnson, died in the Lake Placid Hospital this morning of injuries received from a “fast motor boat” ran down the rowboat she was in on Lake Placid. Two girls and two boys were in the rowboat. The driver of the boat had been talking to people in another boat and sped off toward the rowboat he did not see till the boys stood up and waved their oars. He tried to miss them, but it was too late. The rowboat was cut in two amidships. Miss Johnson’s left leg “received blows from the propeller” and she suffered other injuries as well.
• 27 Jul 1925 “Girl’s Death at Alameda Beach Sifted” Oakland Tribune (California) reports Gertrude Anthony and another girl were swimming near the beach at Alameda yesterday (26 July 1925) when they encountered a hole several feet deeper than the surrounding area. The girls were able to swim a little, but floundered when they were unable to touch bottom. A speedboat attempted to rescue them, but Miss Anthony was “cut about the body by the propeller of the speedboat” and died several hours later at the Alameda Sanatarium. The other girl was rescued as she was going down for the third time and is recovering at an area hospital.
• 24 August 1925 “Woman Dives Off Launch; Killed by Propeller” Chicago Tribune. Article available from Chicago Tribune.
• 28 Jul 1926 “Hit by Motor Boat, May Die” New York Times Pg.18 reports William C. O’Connor, a Brooklyn policeman, was swimming “outside the lines” yesterday (27 July) off 31st street at Coney Island. He was ran down by a boat operator who said he did not see him. Mr. O’Connor’s left leg was struck by the propeller, “nearly severing it”. Coney Island Hospital doctors said they would probably have to amputate it. He was listed as being injured, “probably mortally.”
• 15 May 1927 “Charge U.S. Dry Agent Laughs as Boat Kills Two” Chicago Tribune reports a federal border agent drove a speedboat on Friday afternoon 13 May 1927 in the Detroit River. That boat ran over and killed James R. Lee (age 36) and his daughter Mildred (age 12). He pleaded not guilty to manslaughter charges today.
  This report came up in a report like it was a propeller accident, we have not verified the deaths were caused by propellers.
• 5 Sep 1927 “Yacht’s Propeller Kills Swimming Physician In View of Atlantic City Crowd on Steel Pier”. New York Times. Dr. Richard Bew of Atlantic City Hospital was swimming early tonight about 30 feet off the Steel Pier in Atlantic City New Jersey with the captain of the beach patrol and with the mascot of the life guards. The Princeton, a very nice yacht, made a sharp turn and a wave washed Dr. Bew under the craft. “The propeller struck him on the head, probably fracturing his skull, and inflicted other bruised on the body.” The accident was witnessed by several people on the pier.
• 29 November 1927 “Struck by Propeller” Argus (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) reports from Perth that on Monday, 28 Nov. a 1y year old girl, Miss Grace Bulline, was swimming in the Swan River. She was thought to have been swimming off the end of Como jetty and approached too close to the launch, Valthora. “She was sucked under the surface and whirled round by the large propeller of the boat.” She is currently in critical condition.
• 1 June 1930 Times Picayune (Louisiana) “Girl Hurt When Hit by Outboard Boat Propeller” reports from Gulfport MIssissippi that Helen Wolf, a 14 year old girl from Purvis, was swimming in the Gulfport Pavilion. An outboard boat operated by a Gulfport lawyer came too close to her, she caught onto the side of the boat, the boat veered, and she was thrown against the propeller. Witnesses said she was thrown 15 feet by the propeller strike. MIss Wolf was later taken to King’s Daughters Hospital. Her mother had been on the pier watching the swimmers at the time of the accident.
• 8 Aug 1930 “Killed by Speedboat” New York Times reports from Bay Shore Long Island that Raymond Henschel, age 26, was in a speedboat on Great South Bay a little after midnight this morning near Cherry Grove. He fell overboard and was struck by the propeller during a sharp turn. He was still alive when the ambulance picked him up at the dock, but died later.
• 16 Sep 1930 “Launch Propeller Kills Bache Guest” New York Times reports that yesterday (15 Sept 1930) Elsie Hughes (age 15) fell into upper Saranac Lake, was “struck by the churning blades of a motor boat propeller” and died 3 hours later at Saranac General. Hospital. The propeller “severely cut her legs”. She had been the guest at a summer camp. She and another girl went motor boating, she reached over the side to retrieve a rope, fell in, and the boat continued over her. Her legs were cut at both the ankles and the knees.
• 19 June 1931 “Speedboat Upset 8 FLung Out, Hurt: Six Slashed by Propeller” New York Times reports from Glen Cove Long Island on June 18th that a speed boat made a sharp turn in Hempstead Harbor off Glen Cove this afternoon(18 June) was upset and sank with six women and two men onboard. “Six members of the party were cut about the face and body when they were caught by the thrashing of the propeller of the boat…”. Nicholas Demidoff, age 28 year, was unconscious from “wounds inflicted by the propeller blade”. Elizabeth Dunn, age 21, suffered “deep lacerations about the face and body”. They were rescued by a nearby yacht and taken by ambulance to North Country Community Hospital. Four others were treated for cuts and bruises. A dog was also rescued from the craft (this is one of the earliest mentions of a dog being present with a propeller strike accident)
• 13 July 1931 Trenton Evening News (New Jersey) “Boat Fall Cuts Off Girl’s Leg” reports Louise Worthington, a 17 year old girl from Jenkintown, was sitting on the front of a motorboat, lost her grip when the boat was straightening out after a turn, fell over the bow, and her right leg was severed by the propeller. She is now recovering in Point Pleasant Hospital.
• 17 Jul 1931 Times Recorder (Zanesville OH) “Hit by Propeller as Boat Capsizes; Drowns” reports Jacob J. Mulinex, age 69 of Toledo, a marine engineer, was alone in an outboard powered boat about 300 feet offshore on Lake Erie near Lakeside Michigan on July 16th. His boat capsized, he was struck by the propeller, and his body was recovered shortly later by a 19 year old girl. Several people witnessed the accident.
• 6 Jun 1932 Appleton Post Crescent (Wisconsin) “Propeller Cuts Swimmer’s Leg” reports Edward Conway, age 16, was riding a surfboard behind a boat on Fox River near Menasha docks about 3pm Sunday June 5th. He fell and was swimming back to the boat. Another boat operator saw him, shut off their motor, and tried to turn, but still hit him with its propeller. He was struck in the foot and leg, and taken by taxi to Theda Clark Hospital with severe lacerations.
• 4 July 1932 “Boy Escapes Death in Odd Whirlpool” New York Times reports a July 3rd story of Joseph Paterno, age 16, barely escaped drowning and bleeding to death when thrown from a speed boat and cut by its propeller on Upper Saranac Lake this afternoon. Going about 40 miles per hour, he made a sharp turn and was thrown from the boat. The passenger less boat began to circle with him in the middle of the circle. The suction of the boat was becoming greater and he decided to dive and try to swim under the boat. As he dove, he propeller “struck his right hand and wrist, cutting them deeply.” The accident happened about two miles out into the lake. After he swam about half a mile, his younger brother saw the boat still turning in a circle and came to his rescue. He was taken to Saranac General Hospital.
• 12 Aug 1932 “Hurled From Boat, Lost” New York Times reports from Highlands N.J. on August 11th that Frederick Nolte Jr., age 31 of Queens, was in a speedboat on Shrewsbury River near Highlands N.J. on 10 August. He was standing on the engine box and fell over in a turn. The boat operator heard two thumps. He “was instantly killed, it is believed, by the propeller.”
• About 1932 Accident Date – 7 October 2014 New York Times “Marian Seldes, Regal Presence on Broadway, Dies at 88” reports on the recent death of Marian Seldes and her life. She earlier spoke of being on a boat when she was six years old with some children, as they jumped into the water, she was struck in the face by the propeller. The doctors used a thick black thread to stitch her face which scarred her and her psyche.
• 11 Sep 1933 “Swimmer is Killed by Boat Propeller” New York Times reports Leo Rubin age 22 of Brighton Beach was killed yesterday while swimming off the “foot of East Fifth Street.” Mr Rubin was inexperienced at swimming, so he was keeping himself afloat with an inner tube. He paddled out about 150 feet. An 18 foot boat came by with the throttle barely open, and Mr. Rubin was “caught in the backwash and drawn toward the propeller.” His back was severely lacerated and he was rushed to Coney Island Hospital where he died early last night.
• 8 July 1934 “U.S. Boat Driver Killed” New York Times reports a 7 July 1934 from Paris of a collision in a boat race at Bois de Boulogne Lake (on 7 July) where Charles Wirt, a 19 year old American crew member from Winter Haven Florida, “lost his life in full view of hundreds of Parisians and visitors.” Mr. Wirt’s boat turned over and he was struck by his own boat’s propeller. The race was discontinued after the accident.
• 15 July 1935 “Killed by Runaway Boat” New York Times reports a 14 July 1935 AP story from Fairview Beach Virginia in which two men were thrown from a runaway speedboat which then kept circling. Ruffner Hill, 23 of Mitchells VA was struck in the head and drowned. Roy Taylor, 22 of Culpepper VA, was gashed in the shoulder by the outboard motor propeller. Both dove repeatedly to avoid being struck. Taylor, a good swimmer, was able to dodge the boat several times by diving, but eventually he surfaced directly in the path of the boat and was struck. When the boat struck him, the prop kicked up out of the water and the boat stopped. The article does not specifically say the dead gentleman was struck by the propeller. This is one of the earliest accidents to definitely describe the circling danger of a propeller powered boat.
• 19 Aug 1935 “Killed by Speed Boat” New York Times reports an 18 August AP story from Point Pleasant New Jersey in which William J. Rhoads, age 57, was swimming in Manasquan River Canal about 50 feet from his summer home when a speed boat turned to avoid a large cruiser going through the canal. At the last moment Mr. Rhodes threw up his arm to protect his head. His “arm was badly cut by the propeller” He was taken to the hospital and died from shock early today (18 Aug).
• 1 Sept 1935 Hit and Run Tanker Kills Man; Runs Down Launch Off the Bronx” New York Times reports a COMMERCIAL VESSEL accident involving a recreational craft. Three fishermen were in a boat in East Chester Bay about 8pm August 31st. Its motor failed, they could see other craft in the vicinity. A fuel barge came toward them, they jumped into the water to avoid the collision. John Parsi, age 40 of the Bronx, suffered a fractured skull when the propeller of the barge struck him. His body was picked up by a nearby launch. The disabled vessel the fishermen were on was said to be running without light and had no oars.
• 24 Aug 1936 “Doctor Drowns in Lake” New York Times reports from Lake Hopatcong N.J. on Aug 23rd that Dr. Jacob Livingston, age 34 of Newark, was riding in a motorboat today, it lurched, he went overboard, and was struck by the propeller. His body was recovered about two hours later.
• 1 June 1940 Oregonian (Oregon) “Propeller Injures Foot” reports Pack Meyers, age 16 of Oswego, caught his left leg and his right foot in a boat propeller on the Lake on Sunday 9 June. He was taken to Coffey Memorial Clinic.
• 19 Sep 1940 Port Arthur News (TX) “Boat Propeller Cuts Local Man” reports Claude Plessala, age 36, was fishing from an outboard boat near High Island early Wednesday night (18 Sept). He was thrown from the boat, “bit on the head by the propeller blade”, and taken to St. Mary’s Hospital with severe cuts to his head.
• 5 July 1941 Oregonian (Oregon) “Leg Hurt by Boat” reports Dean Monbeck, 25 year old male, was trying to free a motorboat and caught his leg in the propeller. He was taken to the emergency hospital Friday night 4 July with severe leg lacerations.
• WORLD WAR II – 20 Jan 1942 “7 Tell of Fight to Stay Out of Propeller” The Washington Post reports a torpedo attack sank a U.S. tanker off the Atlantic Coast. 22 crewmen are thought to have died in the flaming waters and the 7 survivors tell of fighting to keep from being pulled into the propellers.
• 22 June 1942 Dallas Morning News “Boat’s Propeller Kills Man in Bayou Collision” reports from Alvin Texas that W.B. Butler, 40 year old male, was boating on Chocolate Bayou near where it joins Perry’s Bayou about 15 miles from Alvin Texas. About midnight Saturday night 20 June they collided with another boat at a bend in the bayou. The other boat went up and over the skiff containing Butler and a friend returning from a fishing trip. When it went over them, Butler was struck in the head by the propeller. The boat Butler was in sank. His friend dove for his body repeatedly, but was not able to find him. Butler’s body was later recovered Sunday morning.
• 31 July 1944 Dallas Morning News “Freak Boating Accident Kills O.B. Carpenter” reports from Texarkana Texas that Omar B. Carpenter, 46 year old male, was on a motorboat at First Old River about 25 miles northeast of Texarkana on Sunday 30 July. He fell from the bow while the boat was being operated by another member of his party, and was struck by the propeller “as it raced over his body.” Other members of the party onshore also witnessed the accident.
• 24 May 1948 “Speedboat Throws Owner in River, Races Ashore, Kills Man at Pier” New York Times. William McDermott, age 47, preparing to cast off his rowboat from the Interstate Boat House just south of Dyckman Street, was struck and killed by a pilotless motorboat. The boat had been going north in the middle Hudson (about a mile wide here), was struck by a wave, yawed, pitched its driver into the river and began to arc toward shore. Hundreds of people on shore watched the pilotless boat approach. It splintered the rowboat and injured Mr McDermott, apparently with a blow from its propeller.” He was taken to Jewish Memorial Hospital and died 5 hours later.
• 31 August 1948 Times-Picayune (Louisiana) “Propeller Kills Boy” reports an Associated Press report from Montgomery Pennsylvania of a 13 year old boy swimming in the Susquehanna River near Montgomery on 30 August. He became “entangled in the propeller blades of a motor launch” while swimming and was killed. The coroner said the boy was diving in the waves caused by the launch and was somehow carried into the propeller
• 29 Jun 1949 “Girl’s Feet Severed, Boat’s Pilot Named” New York Times reports a 28 June story from Reno Nevada in which Imogene Wittche, age 13 of Roseville California, and another 13 year old girl were swimming in Lake Tahoe when Imogene’s feet were pulled into the propeller of a passing boat whose operator later reported they had seen the girls and thought they passed them by a wide margin. The girls reported the “115 horsepower runabout roared down upon them.” A later report, 30 June 1949 Nevada State Journal, indicates one of her feet was cut off by the propeller and the other had to be amputated. She is in the hospital and thinks both her feet were reattached by the hospital and she will be up and active in a few weeks. Her father is grieving over how to tell her and the doctors say she should not be told for some time. Still other reports indicate the accident was a hit and run. Investigators shortly tracked down the boat operator and a trial was held in October 1949.
• 22 July 1949 Dallas Morning News (Texas) “Boat Propeller Severs Leg in Lake Accident” reports Harold Hicks was operating a 17 foot power boat on Lake Austin on Thursday 21 July. He made a sharp right turn, was ejected, and his right leg was struck by the propeller. He was taken to Brackenridge Hospital.
• 27 July 1949 Trenton Evening News (New Jersey) “Boat Victim Improves” reports Patricia Conklin, 13 year old girl from Trenton was on the Delaware River opposite the Lamberton Street Bathing Beach late Monday 21 July. Her leg was “cut by a motorboat propeller” and she was taken to St. Francis Hospital.
• 30 July 1949 Plain Dealer (Cleveland Ohio) “Maimed Dutch Lad Wins Heart of City” reports Tony Mulder, a young 16 year old seaman, was a crew member of the S.S. Raynefjell out of Oslo Norway. He was swimming near the pier at East 9th Street on 28 July when a boat came by and his right foot was caught in the propeller. He lost his right foot and many well wishers have tried to assist him.
• 27 March 1950 Times Picayune (Louisiana) “Man Saved; Hunt Friend on Coast” reports Thomas Patton and his uncle went out of a 26 foot power cruiser belonging to his uncle for a weekend fishing trip from New Orleans. They hit rough weather in the Mississippi Sound on 26 March. His uncle turned into Bayou Caddy at Lakeshore, the boat grounded, and Patton was ejected. His uncle jumped in and others onboard threw life rings and a life raft. Rough seas caused the boat to run over Patton and “the propeller ripped his thigh, knee and leg and stripped him of his clothing.” Those on board were able to recover the unconscious Patton, but could not find his uncle. A major search is underway for the uncle.