Arthur F. Pearl and George W. Bissell two hydrographic aids of great merit, were drowned near Apalachicola, Fla., on the 26th of February, together with four men of the party on service in that vicinity. The disaster resulted from the upsetting of their sail boat in a very sudden squall of wind on their return to the anchorage of the schooner Silliman, which was about four miles off, after having attended church at Apalachicola. These aids were young men highly valued for their confirmed moral worth, and for industry and attention in the performance of duty. Both were good sailors, and, besides being well qualified in other respects, they had evinced strong inclinations toward the hydrographic service. In that branch their thorough training had been strongly seconded by their own native energy and readiness to encounter any dangers incident to the course of duty.

During several seasons the senior aid served in Chesapeake Bay, in the party of Sub-Assistant Harding, whose subsequent untimely death has been already mentioned. For the winter service of 1870, Mr. Pearl, at his own request, was transferred to the warmer air of a station on the Gulf coast, his over-exertion in the Chesapeake hydrography having brought on hemorrhage of the lungs. His amiable companion, Mr. Bissell, had been previously associated with several hydrographic parties in different sections of the Atlantic coast.

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Superintendant's Report, 1871 (?)