Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 235, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 October 1915 — RENSSELAER-COUPLE HAD A CLOSE CALL [ARTICLE]

RENSSELAER-COUPLE HAD A CLOSE CALL

Auto Ran Into Rear of Ted Watson’s Motorcycle and Side Car and Girls Were Thrown Out. Ted Watson and Miss Wilda Littlefield, of Rensselaer, and Miss Laura Nelson, of Brookston, had a close call from serious injury at about 5 o’clock Sunday afternoon when as they were returning to Brookston with a motorcycle and side car they were struck from the rear by an automobile driven by George Sheets, of Brookston. Mr. Watson and Miss Littlefield had one to Brookston, leaving Rensselaer at about 12 o’clock. At Brookston Miss Nelson had joined them and the two -girls were in the side car of Mr. Watson’s motorcycle. They went to Lafayette and were returning home via Tecumseh Trail and the soldiers’ home and when about 4 miles south of Brookston and coming north they saw a car being driven rapidly west by an elderly man. The driver seemed to be frustrated and Ted saw that it was going to be difficult to avoid a collision and he swung his car to the left of the road and got by in front of the auto, but the driver instead of going on west as had been Oris intention and as Ted had figured, turned to the north and hit the motorcycle from the rear. Both young ladies were thrown out and landed against a hedge fence along the roadside. Ted remained on his machine which was turned around tnd jammed against a telephone pole, suffering serious damage. The rear wheel of the motorcycle was crushed, the side car was bent and the side wheel damaged. Mr. Watson is unable to account for his own escape from injury and it is also remarkable that the girls escaped without severe injury. As it was, however, they suffered only slight bruises. The auto driver, according to Mr. Watson, is reported to be very reckless and several told him at Brookston that the man had narrowly escaped other accidents. The man, however, denied responsibility and refused to consider any terms of adjustment. His automobile suffered only slight damage. An auto coming along soon took the young ladies to Miss Nelson’s home in Brookston and then returned for Mr. Watson, and later he and Mr. Nelsdn with a dray went out and brought the broken motorcycle to Brookston, and it was shipped on to Rensselaer. Mr. Watson and Miss Littlefield remained at Miss Nelson’s home in Brookston over night and returned to Rensselaer this Monday morning.