Jasper County Democrat, Volume 23, Number 81, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 January 1920 — WAS SON OF F. M. HERSHMAN [ARTICLE]

WAS SON OF F. M. HERSHMAN

Doctor Accidentally Electrocuted st Alliance, Neb., Born Near Tefft. The Dr. C. E- Hershman of Alliance, Neb., mention of whose accidental electrocution while examining a patient with an . X-ray apparatus was made in last Wednesday’s Democrat, was a son of Frank M. Hershman of Walker township, as was inferred in the mention made in this paper, but, as stated then, we were unable to reach any of the Hershmans in Gillam township or Walker township to confirm this because of the telephone Jines being out of commission.

Under date of December 30, F. M. Hershman write The Democrat from Alliance, and saya: "We were called here by the sudden death of our son, Dr. C. E. rfershman of Alliance. I will send you clipping from paper which will explain All.” The clipping, from an Alliance paper, reads as follows: Dr. Charles 0. Hershman, physician and surgeon and president of the Guardian State bank of Alliance, #as almost instantly killed by an electric shock about 3:30 o’clock yesterday afternoon while treating a patient in his office with an X-ray machine. The patient, Lyle Rose of Alliance, and Dr. Hershman were alone In the operating room when the accident occurred. Treatment was being administered b . X-ray, when Dr. Hershman X, staggered, grasped hold of the machine and fell to the floor, pulling the apparatus and the table on which the patient was lying over on top of him. Miss Nellie Tyree, Dr. Hershman’s office attendant, who was in another room, heard the 'commotion and when she ran Into the operating room Di. Hferdhman was lying on the floor in an unconscious condi-1 tion. She assisted in carrying him! to a couch in the outer office. Dr. । Minor Morris was summoned and arrived immediately, but Dr. Hershman breathed his last within a few seconds after Dr. Morris' arrival. At first it was not believed that death had been caused by electric shock, as there was no visible evidence at the time. It was stated that death had been caused presumably by apoplexy Or stoppage of an artery leading to the brain. Not unt«l after the body had been removed by Undertaker George Darling Was evidence discovered that death had been caused by in electric shock. It was fouhd that two hbles had been burped through Dr. Hershman’s chat, shirt and. underwear, on the Outer side of the right forearm, just below the elbow. There were two brown spots on his arm at this point, indicating that the shock which resulted in his death had been received by contact with live wires running into the X-ray apparatus. The two live wires that are believed to have caused his death are connecting wires between the generator and the X-ray. The burned marks oh Dr. Hershman’s arm and the holes burned ’in his clothing were the same distance apart as the two wires leading into the machine. Dr. Morris stated that Dr. Hershman had apparently reached for some-' thing across these wires, as he might naturally have done, and that his arm came In contact with them. The wires were not insulated and are not intended to be Insulated, it was stated. The X-ray apparatus carries only 110 voltage at the most, and usually only about 105 volts. This is not sufficient to electrocute a person ordinarily and this was why it appeared Improbable at first that death had bden caused by an electric shock. It was stated today to Dr. Hershman had a weak heart and it is believed that the shock probably resulted in heart failure. Dr. Morris stated that he did not deem it at all probable that death was due to the shock alone, but advanced the belief that the victim’s weak heart had been unable to withstand the shock that otherwise would not have Carl Rockey, chief electrician for the city, immediately examined the fuse box and the wires in the vicinity of Dr. Hershmdn’s office and stated that only the ordinary current of 110 volts was carried. He said that there could not possibly have been more than 110 volte carried by the X-ray machine. The electric

lights in the office and in other buildings on the same circuit were not burned out, Mr. Rockey said, as would have been the case had a higher voltage been carried. Dr. Hershman is survived by his widow and two sons, Robert, 5 years old, and Paul, 3 years old; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. F. M. Hershman, living at Tefft, Ind.; two brothers, Paul, living with hie parents, and Fred O. Hershman of the Alliance Drug company, and two sisters, Mrs. B. M. Scotten of Alliance and Mrs. G. P. Tipsword of Bridgeport, 111. He was born January 12, 1885, near Tefft, Ind. Dr. Hershman had practiced medicine and surgery in Alliance for the past nine years, coming here in 1910 as medical examiner for the Burlington. Later he opened a private office. He was married to Miss Dorothy Hoag in October, 1913. He was graduated from Rush Medical college, Chicago, in 1908. He had been president of the Guardian State bank since Its organization by him and S. B. Wright in 1919. The deceased was a Scottish Rite Mason and a Shriner of Tangier Temple, Omaha. Funeral services will be in charge of the local Masonic lodge and will be held Thursday afternoon at the Christian church. The hour of the funeral has not been announced, pending the arrival of relatives. Interment will be made in Greenwood cemetery.