Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 40, Number 103, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 September 1908 — Valparaiso Boy Survives. [ARTICLE]

Valparaiso Boy Survives.

A letter from J. Lowenstine, the Valparaiso merchant whose automobile struck the little boy near the fair grounds in that city last Friday, states that the little boy was not killed, but that he is living and improving every day and that he will be out of the hospital and all right within a few days. Mr. Lowenstine says it was not reckless driving that was the cause of the accident and asks to have the statement in this paper that he was driving recklessly corrected. The information on which the article in the Republican was based was secured from Louie Muster, who was an eye witness of the affair, and who picked up the boy after he had been hit by Mr. Lowenstine’s car. He considered the speed at which the car was being driven as very reckless considering the large crowd that was leaving the fair grounds, and thought that greater vigilance on the part of the driver would have prevented the accident. But whether or not Mr. Lowenstine was to blame for the accident, and we cling to .Abe idea that he was, it all serves to illustrate that many automobile owners and drivers are very reckless, and the wonder is that there are not more accidents than there are. Here in Rensselaer there are many who drive their machines altogether too fast, and it is only a matter of time until some serious accident will occur.

Automobiles are the greatest business convenience and pleasure vehicles of the age apd they are being brought into use throughout the country as well as in cities, and with their increasing number there should come more strict regulations for their government At Lowell there are signs posted requiring machines to run at an eight mile speed and violators, either local or tourist, are promptly yanked up and fined. We believe that some regulation is necessary, and that it will eventually be understood among automobile owners that pedestrians and drivers of horses have some rights that must be respected.