Victims' Aunt Calls Pond 'Death Hole'

"That place is a death hole for little kids," said Geneva Boykin, aunt of Margaret and Clyde Johnson, the two children who drowned last Saturday in a Harvard-owned pond in Jamaica Plain.

"We're not thinking about suing anybody at a time like this," Boykin said concerning the prospects for compensation by Harvard. "We're worrying about the money to bury them."

The pond. known to local residents as "the muddies." is an apparently abandoned piece of property adjacent to Harvard's Arnold Arboretum. Residents in the area have had a high opinion of Harvard in the past, since the Arboretum, which is free to the public, provides a play area for children who have no other place to go.

But yesterday feelings ranged from deep concern to outrage. One woman who lives close to the scene of the drowning said, "God help the poor people in that housing project. They don't live under the best conditions, and they can't be with their children every moment of the day. Of course kids are going to go there. Harvard should have filled that hole in long ago."

An employee in a car wash near the scene said, "That makes four dead in 15 years. If they had been my children, I'd be suing Harvard up and down."

Another local resident said, "There was a petition a few years ago. They brought the dirt to fill it in; but when the talk died down they just let it go." When asked if he thought Harvard would provide assistance to the Johnson family, he said, "Not a chance."

Henry H. Cutler '29, Harvard's real estate manager, had no comment yesterday.

Daniel Steiner '54, general counselor to the University, said yesterday concerning possible legal action or compensation, "It's not something we have considered. There isn't any question of liability here."