Jasper County Democrat, Volume 20, Number 63, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 November 1917 — GENERAL AND STATE NEWS [ARTICLE]

GENERAL AND STATE NEWS

Telegraphic Reports From Many Parts of the Country. SHORT BITS OF THE UNUSUAL Happenings in the Nearby Cities and Towns —Matters of Minor Mention From Many Places. FIVE KILLED NEAR LAFAYETTE * When Auto Is Struck and Demolished by Interurban Car. One of the most horrible automobile accidents in this part of the state in several years occurred two miles east of Lafayette Sunday forenoon when an a/uito was etruck by a heavy interurban car and five people killed. The dead are John Ellis, 35, of Frankfort; his mother, Mrs. Mary Ellis, 56, of Lafayette, and the former’s wife and two children, Mrs. Ella Ellis, 32; Maxine Ellis, 8, and Edith Ellis, 6. There were three other children in the car at the time and all were more or less seriously injured and two may die. The Ellis family were enroute to Lafayette to spend the day with ihls mother, who bad gone to Frankfort the day before to make the auto trip with them. What prompted the man to drive onto the track will never be known, as he undoubtedly saw the interurban car. The track and road parallel each other for some distance and to all appearances he was trying to bea|. the interurban car across the crossing. The car struck the auto squarely and scattered the wreckage and bodies along the track for a distance of 140 feet. A 16-unonths’-old babe was picked up some distance from the accident, and was taken to the home of nearby residents and it is thought will recover. Twin daughters, aged 4, were both badly injured, but may recover. Later.—The sixth victim, the 16-months-old babe, died Monday afternoon, and one of the twins was expected to die at almost any time, according to yesterday’s Lafayette Journal. Ellis, who lived at 1058 East Walnut street, Frankfort, with his fam-j ily, was employed as a nii'llwrigM at the McDougall factory. About w week ago, discussing an automobile accident that had just occurred, he remarked to the other workmen that “any man who tried to beat a train or traction car across a crossing is a fool.” Yet apparently it was just such an attempt that resulted in the death of Mr. Ellis and six other members of his family. William Holmes of this city was an eye witness to the accident. He was in Lafayette for the day and was enroute to the Crouch stock farm and was only a short distance away when the interurban struck the auto. It was Mr. Holmes’ opinion that Ellis was racing with the traction car and thought he could beat it across the crossing.