Jasper County Democrat, Volume 20, Number 32, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 July 1917 — A SERIES OF AUTO ACCIDENTS [ARTICLE]

A SERIES OF AUTO ACCIDENTS

There were three automobile accidents in Rensselaer Saturday evening and Sunday, but in neither case was anyone seriously hurt. The first accident occurred Saturday evening at the intersection of Washington street and McKinley avenue, in front of the H. O. Harris residence. Walter Hopkins, driving his Ford car, was going north on McKinley avenue and another car was coming south on the same street, while Perry Marlatt was coming east on Washington street. The new traffic posts at this corner and near the McKay laundry make it quite difficult for one to observe the traffic rules because of the narrowness of the street between the Curbs. The three cars reaching the corner at the same time caused a mixup in which Mr. Marlatt collided with the Hopkins car, throwing it over against the- curb and turning it over. Not very much damage was done to the car. but Mr. Hopkins was somewhat bruised. The second accident occurred at about 7:30 o’clock Sunday morning when Elmer Biggs and Charles Marlin, driving the former’s Ford car, upset in the road on east Elm street, almost directly in front of “Frenchy” Deschand’s home. The car turned turtle completely, the wheels being upright in the air. Mr. Deschand and others of the family ran out and righted th§ car and reused young Marlin whorwas pinnedunderneath. Except for a broken windshield the car was not badly damaged. This accident is said to have been caused from mixing too much whisky with the gasoline. The parties are said to have been driving at a high rate of speed, going west, and were too drunk to handle the car, but went zig-zagging about unt>l the car finally turned over. After it was righted they got back into it and started off, sill zig-zagging from one side of the street to the other, and one of the men is said to have fallen out, so badly intoxicated, was he. It is a miracle that they did not run over some one or run into some of the houses along the street.

The third accident, which occurred about 3:30 p. m., was likewise due to reckless driving. Five Francesviile boys, who had been working for S. C. Irwin in the onion fields at Newland, had hired a Ford car at Francesville to drive to Monon, it is said, but instead they came to Rensselaer and started from here to Wolcott. None° of the boys were more than 14 or 1 years of age and had no legal or moral right to be driving a car. When out near W. S’. Parks’ residence on College avenue, and driving at a high rate of speed, they attempted to drive past John Parkinson in his father’s big Cadillac. John was going to stop at Parks' and held out Ills hand in warning to them, hut they evidently did not know what this meant and did not slacken speed at all. Seeing that they were going to run into his car, John pulled back into the road to the west and their Ford struck his running hoard, throwing

their car to the east and it run down' east on the street at the north side of the Parks residence, struck a tree, broke off “the two front wheels of the car and threw it over on the side, the occupants all being thrown violently out onto the ground but not injurying any of them 'seriously. They had not shut off the engine nor closed the throttle, and the rear wheels continued to spin as the car lay no its side. The car was headed right toward a hammock in which Ray Parks’ two small children were lying and had it not been for striking the tree it would have run into the hammock and possibly have killed both the children. Except for bending the front axle and breaking the wheels, the car was practically uninjured and, after securing money from Mr. Irwin and having new wheels put on and some other little repairs made at the Rensselaer garage, at an expense of about sl4, they drove the car back home. \