Jasper County Democrat, Volume 11, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 October 1908 — BADLY HURT IN RUNAWAY. [ARTICLE]

BADLY HURT IN RUNAWAY.

John Franckovlak, of east Carpenter, mention of whose ruaway accident was briefly told in our East Jordan items in Wednesday's Democrat? seems to have been quite badly hurt, His left collar bone was broken where one of the wheels struck him and his right shoulder blade was also broken. The accident occurred on the gravel road south of town, near M. A. Dewey’s last Friday about noon. Mr. Franckoviak, was on his way to town after a load of lumber. Her only had the running gears to his wagon and was sitting on a board in the center. An automobile from Rensselaer with three or four men in it came out at a pretty swift gait, met and passed him all right, his team not generally being afraid of these machines. The auto ran on south a ways and then turned and came back, still "at a fast clip. Mr. Franckoviak knew nothing of the machine behind him and was just turning from the dirt up onto the grade to cross a culvert, the end of which was broken, when the auto rushed up beside his horses and turned on the exhaust when immediately beside them. This naturally scared them badly and they started to run, throwing the old gentleman off —he is about 68 years of age—and they ran neck and neck with the auto, it is reported for sixty or eighty rods, finally breaking the front wheels to the wagon, breaking the tongue and whiffletrees and tearing the harness all to pieces. The people in the auto never stopped, we are told, to see whether anyone was killed or not, and Mr. Frankoviak thought for awhile that he was not hurt much. The next morning, however, he was so sore he could scarcely move, and his shoulder hurt him so much that a doctor was called from Remington and has been in daily attendance on him since. It is intimated that the driver of the auto will be asked to settle the damages.