JOHN WILLIAM JONES. GRANVILLE, WASHINGTON COUNTY, NEW YORK.
A chance discovery of the body of John W. Jones, 38, of Granville, by Joseph Degen, Jr., Issac Boyd and Isaac Boyd Jr., of Albany, in an outboard motor, saved the police authority of Vermont state, the necessity of solving the mysterious disappearance of the man, who was drowned in a shallow part of Lake St Catherine, Saturday night or early Sunday morning. Passing over a spot on the east side of the lake near the shore their attention was called to a canoe paddle floating on the lake. They also noticed a sunken Kayak. Close observation disclosed a white shirt, which after a few seconds' study turned out to be a body of a man. A rope was placed on the left arm of the man dragged to shore, tied to a tree on the bank of the lake and the selectmen of the town of Wells were notified.Near the body, submerged in the water, was a red kayak, a small canvas boat, entirely enclosed at the top except for a hole at the place where the navigator sits in a small opening. The only part of the navigator's body that protrudes from the kayak id that from the waist up. The legs are entirely encased in the bow of the kayak.
It is presumed that Jones, seeing the kayak, the first and only one of its kind ever to make an appearance on Lake St Catherine attempted to take a ride in it. Unable to swim and never having propelled either a canoe or a kayak, it is thought that Jones lost his balance and overturned. Being unable to extricate his legs from the forward part of the boat while under water he became helpless, and drowned.
When trhe selectmen of the town of Wells appeared on the scene they were unable to identify the body. Owen Williams, one of the selectmen, suggested that it might be that of J. W. Jones, who had been camping in a tent at the lake during the past summer months and who was employed by Edward Bushee as an assistant painter. When E. J. Smith, another member of the selectmen of the town of Wells summoned Morris Rote-Rosen, Sunday noon, he identified the body as that of John W. Jones.
The body of Jones was found fully clothed and the position of his arms and legs showed a desperate struggle to free himself from the kayak. The boat was submerged a short distance from the body. There were several cuts and bruises about the face and shoulders of the body of the man, which caused the selectmen of the town of Wells to ask State Attorney Jack A. Crowley of Rutland to investigate if there was any foul play in connection with Jones' death. The bottom of the lake where the drowning occurred is of rough stones and there is no doubt in the minds of some that the cuts and bruises may have been caused by these sharp stones when Jones was fighting desperately to release his legs from the inside of the kayak. The body was found a short distance south of the "Cascades."
Dr. Robert C. Davies, Granville, coroner, gave a verdict of accidental drowning.
Jones was a native of Wales and when in Granville resided with Ed and Jack Williams on Elm Street. He has been staying in a tent this summer on the Weinberg lot south of the Ernest L. Allen cottage The tent was erected by Kenneth DrGroff early in the spring and turned over to Jones for his use. Jones went to his work with Mr. Bushee every morning and lived alone in the tent. For one who was unable to swim he took unusual chances on the water. He was, within two weeks, towed back to his tent by a passing motor boat on Lake St Catherine where he was picked up in a row boat, without an oar, sails set and struggling desperately to get back to his tent. He was physically exhausted at that time, the waters of the lake being exceptionally choppy and rough. It was later learned that he had been in the middle of the lake for most of the day trying to kame his way back to camp with a small board for an oar. He knew nothing of a sailing boat.
Jones was a gentleman of good behaviour and well liked by those who knew him. He was exceptionally tidy about his tent and he had William Downes for a frequent visitor to his camp. He served in the British Forces during the World War and then came to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Ten years ago he moved to Granville. The last time Jones was seen was at about six o'clock Saturday evening by Morris Rote-Rosen and William Downes about 9:30 the same evening. He was not seen by anyone after that. How he came to take the kayak to go for a ride and at what time he was drowned remains a mystery. His watch showed that it stopped at 1:30 (presumably Sunday morning). The kayak was the property of a party in Dorset who kept it on the "Cascades" property.
The body of Jones was taken to the McHenry and Roberts funeral parlors Sunday after identification of the body was made.
The funeral was held at ten o'clock this morning at the Trinity Episcopal Church, with Rev. F. H. Hogg officiating. Military honors were rendered the deceased, he having served in the British Army during the World War. The firing squad in charge of Sergeant Morris Rote-Rosen escorted the body from the McHenry and Roberts undertaking parlors to the church and from the church to the Mettowee Valley Cemetery, where a volley was fired and "Taps" sounded.
The survivors are his father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. Moses Jones, residing in Wales; two brothers and a sister in Wales and a brother, Robert R. Jones of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The only near relatives residing in Granville are William W. Williams and Family, cousins.