From the Beardstown Enterprise we take the following account of the tragic drowning of Clarence Edward Hertzberger aged about 43 years and Fred B. Dickens aged about 32 years. The accident occurred about dark Thursday evening, May 6th. These two young men in company with two other young men by the name of Roberts and Doerr were out pleasure riding in a small motor boat owned by Roberts. They were all employees of the Beardstown Post Office and were highly respected and popular young men.
The river had overflown its banks and the current was very strong. As the young men went up the river they passed under a span of the wagon bridge. The top of the boat barely clearing the lower girders of the bridge. When they returned they passed under another span of the bridge which was not quite so high and the top of the boat struck the lower part of the bridge and the boat immediately capsized and all four of the young men were thrown into the water. With the greatest of difficulty Roberts and Doerr succeeded in getting to some piling in the river and were rescued but Dickens and Hertzberger were drowned almost instantly.
Dickens was a former Roodhouse boy, being a son of Mr. and Mrs. J. F. Dickens but for the past 26 years the family had resided in Beardstown. He was married and besides the widow who was Miss Gertrude Peyton, he is survived by two brothers and two sisters. Hertzberger was single and is survived by his widowed mother, Mrs. Catherine Hertzberger.
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