October 3, 1879--A Sad Disaster
It appears that on Sunday last the two sons of William Bartz, of that town, aged ten and twelve respectively, obtained permission of their mother to go fishing on a small lake some three miles distant from home, agreeing to return during the afternoon. The boys, however, did not arrive at the appointed time nor during the succeeding night. The mother grew seriously alarmed but the father being away and there being no near neighbors, nothing could be done until the parent should arrive.
Early Monday morning, Mr. Bartz arrived from Oconto and immediately went in search of the missing ones. That morning the boys were found on a raft some distance from shore out on the lake, almost entirely stripped of clothing, the younger one being already dead and the eldest one nearly so. They were at once taken home, and restoratives promptly administered to the one still living, who is now fair for recovery.
It seems that the raft on which the boys had gone out on had ran aground some distance out into the lake, and they were unable to get free. In their efforts they divested themselves of their clothing and got into the water to try and push the raft off, but were unsuccessful. On again getting on the raft they had become so be-numbed with cold that they had not the strength to put on their clothing, and in this condition were exposed to the rain and hail storm of Sunday night, resulting in the death of one of them, as has already been said.
