August 20, 1886 had been a
steamy hot day in Hamilton. Late in the afternoon, Police Chief A. D. boarded
his wife, his two daughters on a train for a short trip to the Beach.
Catching the 4:10 North and
Northwestern train at the station on King street east, all the Stewarts were
excited to escape the noise, dust and smells of the city and take in the
cooling breezes beside the lake and bay:
The bay was smooth and the
afternoon delightful – a model day for an hour’s rowing – and being an expert
boatman and a great lover of the pleasures of boating, Chief Stewart engaged a
boat and took his family out on the bay.”1
1 Hamilton
Spectator. August 21, 1886.
The pleasant outing on the
bay soon turned very unpleasant :
“At about 5:30, Capt.
Campbell and Robert Curtiss went out in a strong row boat to pick up a buoy
about a mile from the pier. They were engaged at the buoy when they saw a small
boat about a quarter of a mile away from them, nearer to the piers, and as they
watched it the boat capsized.
“Captain Campbell is a handy
man about the water, and knows just what to do in such a case. His companion is
something of the same cut. They bent to their oars without any delay and were
soon alongside the upturn skiff, which they discovered to be that in which
Chief Stewart had embarked with his family. The two children had gone down and
were under the boat.”1
1 “In
Hamilton’s Waters : Chief Stewart, His Wife and Family, Nearly Drowned : Their
Boat is Capsized Nearly a Mile from Land – Captain Campbell and Robert Curtiss
the Rescuers”
Hamilton Spectator August
21, 1886.
It was a desperate scene as the
police chief struggled to save his wife, his children and himself :
“The chief is known to be
one of the best swimmers in Canada, and he would have no difficulty in saving
himself, but his first thought was to save his wife.
“He had
managed to keep afloat and support her, but his strength was fast failing. The
weight of water in their clothes was enough to test the strength of the
strongest, while the loose skirts of Mrs. Stewart clung to his limbs, making
his efforts almost unavailing. The thought of his children, who, for all he
knew were drowning while he was unable to help them must have added doubly to
the agony of his position, yet he struggled manfully.”1
Captain
Campbell, the lighthouse keeper, had been involved in many water rescues, and
Curtiss, his companion, knew what to do as well:
Mrs. Stewart’s head was two feet under water. Captain
Campbell caught her by the skirts, raised her head above water, and held her as
scientifically as circumstances would admit until life began to show itself.
“When
first raised above the water, she was quite unconscious, her face being a deep
purple in color and breath having ceased to come. The rescuers got the
all-but-drowned family into their boat and pulled to the beach.”1
The
rescued family were taken to the biggest hotel on the Beach strip:
“At the Ocean
house, everything possible was done for Mrs. Stewart and the two children, and
before long, Dr. Richardson, of Burlington, was in attendance.
“For a time, it was a
question whether or not Mrs. Stewart would recover. Her health has not been as
strong as might have been desired for a year past, and the terrible shock and
exposure, it was feared, might prove too much for her. She began to improve,
however, after being brought to consciousness and it is now believed that no
serious results will be the outcome of the accident.”1
Back in Hamilton, news of
the near-tragedy had arrived but the exact details were unknown :
“Word was sent to friends in
this city and changes of clothing were sent down. The occurrence was not
generally known of in the city, but what reports did reach here were very much
exaggerated and many sympathetic friends were kept in agonizing suspense until
the facts were ascertained. Too much praise cannot be given to the rescuers.”
A reporter for the Spectator
managed to reach Chief Stewart by telephone, and received a brief statement
from him on the incident:
““In talking to the
Spectator by telephone, Chief Stewart said that but for the prompt action of
Captain Campbell, he feared they all would have been drowned. The capsize, he
said, was caused by the children changing their seats and happened so suddenly
that it was impossible to prevent it or to take any precaution in the way of
saving the lives of those in the boat.””1
The next day, Chief Stewart
was back in the city and on duty:
““Chief Stewart returned to
the city from the Beach Saturday morning, and was kept busy shaking hands with
and receiving the congratulations of his hundreds of friends. He was able to
inform all those who inquired, and everyone showed a great deal of anxiety,
that Mrs. Stewart was improving and that the little girls were all right.”2
2 “Their
Narrow Escape : Chief Stewart’s Experience While in the Waters of the Bay”
Hamilton Spectator August
23, 1886.
The chief was able to give a
full account of the near-tragedy, filling in many details :
“To a Spectator reporter he
stated that the report of the occurrence which appeared in the morning’s issue was
quite correct but that which occurred from the time of the capsize until the
arrival of Captain Campbell had not been mentioned. Just before the capsize,
the two little girls, being in one end of the boat wished to go to their mother
who was seated in the other. They were told that they must not do so, but in a
minute or two they were both attempting to pass their father on the same side
of the boat. The upset the boat and the chief went down immediately. In sinking he saw Mrs. Stewart
trying catch the side of the boat, but fail. When he came to the surface, the
two children threw their arms around his neck, and prevented him from doing
anything to save them. Mrs. Stewart was then four or five yards away from the
upturned boat. The chief sank with the two children, but rising immediately he
forced them to loosen their hold and then placed them across the keel of the
boat, telling them to hold on and keep still until he went to their mother’s
rescue. As soon as he turned away, however, they tried to catch hold upon him,
and in doing so, went down again. Again he turned to their rescue and brought
them to the surface again. This time he managed to right the boat and put the
children in it. It was full of water however, and again went over. He then saw
a boat but could not tell whether it was coming to them or not. He got the
children into the boat again, and by that time he recognized Captain Campbell
and knew he was coming to the rescue. Shouting to him to take the children, he
turned to his wife, who with deathlike face and purple lips was sinking for the
last time. He reached the spot where she had disappeared , and he dove for her,
bringing her to the surface by the time Captain Campbell and Curtiss arrived. He
aided the captain to raise her into the boat and took care of himself. As soon
as he had turned from the children, the boat had turned over again, and the
little girls were under it when the captain arrived. Their efforts to attract
his attention had upset them.
“ ‘I seemed to have lived a
lifetime of agony while in the water,’ said the chief; ‘my wife was on one side
of me and my children on the other. When I turned one way to go to my wife’s
assistance, I saw my children sink before I could do anything. The thought had
just struck me that I might possibly get the three of them on my back when I
saw the boat approaching. It arrived none too soon. If the captain had 30 yards
further to pull, someone must have been drowned. It was most fortunate that I
was a good swimmer and that the rescuers knew exactly what to do under the
circumstances.’ ”2
Fully recovered from the shock of the near loss of his wife, daughters and even
himself, Chief Stewart was walking through the Hamilton market when he saw a
man known to him through that man’s frequent appearances in the prisoner’s dock
at the Police Court. The chief managed
to surreptitiously listen to a conversation between that man and a companion :
“ ‘Nearly drowned, eh ? Well. Well. And the
missus and the little ones too ? And Captain Campbell saved them , eh ? Dear me
! And the chief was saved too ? Too bad, too bad.’ ”3
3 “Overheard in the Market.”
Hamilton Spectator August 25, 1885.
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