grave import

Obituary

Funeral services for little Billy Walker, 2 1/2 year boy who drowned in the Mississippi river here yesterday, will be held in Prugh's chapel tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 o'clock with burial in Aspen Grove cemetery. The circumstances surrounding the boy's drowning have not been definitely figured out but indications are that he fell into the river in the vicinity of his home in the Willow Patch and floated the distance of more than three-fourths of a mile to where his body was found by a transient in shallow water a short distance above the Scholer Ice company. Billy and his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Claude Walker, lived in that section of the Willow Patch nicknamed "Cocoanut Grove", their houseboat home being located on the bank about ten yards back from the water's edge, along which are usually parked numerous fishing and pleasure boats. While Billy was not ordinarily permitted to play on the boats, it is said he occasionally went out on his dad's fishing launch and landing platform. Mr. Walker's boat was away from the landing, however, about the time Billy disappeared yesterday morning, Billy was playing with his little wagon a short time before his disappearance and had asked some fisherman to take him for a ride in their boat. They talked him out of the notion and agreed to bring him back some chewing gum. He continued playing in the vicinity where his mother could watch him from the window of their home. Billy took his wagon and backed it into his "fire station" uner a tree, to be ready for instant service "in case of a fire" and then went over and sat down on a gasoline can, which was the last seen of him. There are no other children in the settlement and he was accustomed to finding his own diversions when his parents were busy. He was a favorite with the fishermen and others in the neighborhood who played with him and helped amuse him whenever they saw him around. Nobody saw him leave the neighborhood and nobody saw or heard him fall in the river or make an outcry, but he was not seen alive after 11;30 yesterday morning, the next report of him being when his lifeless body was found about 3 p.m. It is thought unlikely he could have wandered down the railroad track to the point where his body was found without being seen by someone, as there are several hobo camps in that vicinity. He could not have negotiated the distance on land without going down the tracks as the region is swamp and cut by canals. There is no reason to think that he met with violence and was thrown in the river as his relatives were at first inclined to believe, since there were no marks on his body and his clothes were on his body as he wore them when last seen. Bodies do not usually float such distances until some time has elapsed after drowning, but some cases are on record here of finding bodies some distance downstream shortly after drowning. There is also a possibility that a floating log caught the child's clothes and helped carry the body some distance before it became disentangled. At any rate there will be no inquest, as Coroner Burt Prugh announced this morning that he would sign the death certificate as accidental drowning.
Billy's full nme was William Emery Walker, and he was born in Davenport, Jan. 23, 1930. His parents, who are about 23 years old, were married about three and a half years ago in Des Moines, his mothers maiden name being Fern Andre. They lived in Moline, Ill., and when Billy was about 10 months old they moved to Des Moines county, making their home for five months along the river in Tama township, six miles north of here. They later lived in New Boston, Ill., and moved to their present home in the Willow Patch from Davenport four months ago. Besides his parents Billy is survived by three grandparents, Mrs. Eva Jackson, of East Moline, Ill., and Mr. and Mrs. William Andre, of New Boston; two great-grand-parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Brattain, of Seymour, Ia., and two aunts, Sadie Mohler, of Davenport, and Beulah Springsteen, who lives in the Willow Patch near his parents.