From The New York Times, June 1, 1937:
Alligator Swimming From Brooklyn Shore is Captured by Mystified Barge Captain
Old Ira Fisk sat sunning himself yesterday afternoon on board the barge Louis Ganz moored at Pier 9 on the East River when he became involved in the kind of adventure usually associated with tropical waters.
Captain of his craft, a sober man aware of responsibility in the cargo of scrap iron
surrounding him, Ira nonetheless stroked his graying hair in perplexity when he beheld
a four-
Setting aside his pipe, hitching his dungarees a bit tighter, Captain Fisk stepped to the larboard rail for a closer inspection. The tropical visitor was clearly exhausted and seemed in no humor to fight.
Floating half submerged in the placid oily water inshore, the alligator lay with eyes shut and tail whisking to and fro from time to time. Meanwhile Captain Fisk selected a length of rope in which he fashioned a loop, lariat fashion.
Forty boys swimming from nearby piers crowded around the Louie Ganz. The first dip of the coil near the reptile’s head brought poor results. It bridled, backwatered, would have no part in the affair. With infinite patience and much seafaring language Captain Fisk applied himself to the unfamiliar art of lassoing.
Thirty minutes after the alligator had entered his life, he obtained a secure grip by slipping the rope behind the ‘gator’s wildly waving little forefeet. Cautiously man and boys hoisted it on deck where the creature, dejected, lay passive.
A patrolman was summoned from the Old Slip station house. He informed Captain Fisk, later, that no alligator had been reported missing. Unless a ship trading with South America claims it, or the S.P.C.A. considers the Louis Ganz no fit abode for it, the chances are that old Captain Fisk will have a companion on board hereafter..
Copyright 1937 The New York Times