Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 296, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 December 1916 — BIG AUTO RUNS INTO ROAD GRADER [ARTICLE]

BIG AUTO RUNS INTO ROAD GRADER

Mt. Ayr Tribune. Driver of Grader Slightly Injured, Horse Hurt, Lights on Machine Destroyed.

While returning Friday evening with the road grader from a day’s work grading roads, Foster Brunton and Harry Elijah were run into by a large auto driven by a couple df strangers. The accident occurred just east of the corner northeast of town. The grader was being driven east, while the automobile approached from the east. The grader was drawn by six horses, hitched four abreast and two in the lead. The driver of the machine did not see the approaching grader until almost upon it and it seems really phenominal that results were not worse than they were. As is was the two lead horses got the brunt of the collision and one of the •animals, belonging to Mr. Brunton, shows signs of being considerably injured. Mr. Elijah, who .was not driv\ ing, jumped in time to get clear, but Mr. Brunton was thrown down among the horses and his escape was miraculous. For as it was he suffered only some scratches and a bruise jor so. But Foster thought for a little while, when he was down under the horses with the machine headed for him, that the day of the trumpet sounding had come.

The auto seemed to have suffered no worse calamity than two broken lamps, a badly disfigured fender and some minor breaks. The occupants, two strangers, seemed inclined to at first shoulder the blame onto the graders, saying that they themselves were as far to the roadside as they could get, but when shown clearly that they were not, they gave it up and admitted they had not seen the approaching grader, which of a right is entitled to the road. The autoists declined to reveal their names or whereabouts and seemed very anxious to be off. Harry took the license number of their machine before they got away and if any serious effects develop in the case of Mr. Brunton’s injuries, or of the horses, the hasty drivers may be yet looked up.