The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-01-01


OY ITS annual report. Just submitted
= thS committee on accidents o. The
Society for the Investigation Of the
Unexpected lays marked emphasis On
tragic results end otherwise during the
year ending Dec l. 1904 .....-
have tie things played 50 prominent d
part in the important affairs as TINS year
4 very careful investigation into almost
numberIess cases has shown thar instead
OF the great passions. love and hate TINS
year petty things have held the center OI
the stage. q,
and. although acknowledging mat Sucn
happenings do rot necessarily come unuer
thrown this invest isaton IN as SCoi meas
ure. 50 TO speak
The number of hOmicideS that nave
been caused by such petty things as colo
coffee burned beefsteaks and pies sUch
as mother never could have made arc
only surpassed by the number tney might
have caused - saws the committee. There
is on record a case in dubuque. Ia, where
the accidental dropping OF sale IN Ice
cream resulted in q homicide which brohe
W a silver wedding. There - another
| case in which statement that My i tiTst
wife. Emma. vas a wonder At making
soup brought on calamity
There are many cases where a refusal
10 dance with one man and the accept
I ance of another man invitation resulted
in an ARRAY. balhy horse brought on q
feud in Kentucky. because one OF the
feudiStS happened to laugh at the eIiOrts
OF the other side to start the horse Beans
! have caused murder this year and so
have graDes and other Vegetables and
: fruits. while the casualty list due 10
wa termelOns is very large. principally IN
| the southern states after dark
So far as suicides are concerned the list.
/ the report says. is equally large and
/ trivial. We lost count of the number OF
cases OF self-destruction because the
back hair had become disarr@nEed IN
public or some portion Of the dress had
] become undone. We hate 10 think of how
many. principally women. have speeded
| themselves because somebody else was
| five minutes late, ten minutes late or did
rot show up at all, or became cold OF OF
or many other things.
| so far as the latencss is concerned.
continues the report. I'VE have record
/ of any married men adopting such eN-
| treme measures 1t Is good thing. or
| perhaps there would not be any married
''Then there is the record of where a
street car caused young man TO end an
! He was not struck by the street car. but
| in a western town he rode until he espied
a young woman of whom ne was much
| enamored Seeking TO make an impress
gracefully off rear step to alight on an
unsupported slippery spot: The spectacle
| glasses, TO say nothing of the further act
/ Of the slippery spot on the light summer
Being representative the youth in question
went home to DO his rash act.
! One broken pen caused a similar act. \
Young man in New Madrid. Miss took
! the only pen available to write n note in
viting young woman to accompany hlm
on a moonlight excursion. The pen broke
and there was not another to be had As
a result the young woman received an
other invitation before the young man
could go down town and purchase q new
pen
On the suicide subject the committee is
in doubt toward tho last section It saws
that many tragedies were caused By small
things which cannot be put down 10 sui
eide homicide They think the latter,
however. is the best place for the young
man who carelessIy takes position a
few feet distant from the heels of mule
or leans up against an alligator cage or
turns bie face Southu-ard ON the south
bound tracks of city railroad ana tries
| to see what is going on in the slot
They think also that the unsOphistica ted
youth who tried to make pet Of a gorilla
and faced n grizzly bear. trying 70 calm
il by tho power Of his eye. may ne said to
come dangerously near suicide proba bly,
on tho same line Of reasoning that in
dUced a western coroners jury 10 bring
suicide verdict on the Young man who
forcibly told the late Wild Bill in strong
words that he was untruthful. When #
comes to accidents the committee fairly
revels in small thingS-gnatS. one flea.
/ birds. all kinds OF animals from mice and
moles up TO goats they say caused trou-
I bles of the uneXDected kind all summer.
suubonnet. a flirtatious young woman.
one mublebec, a dress suit case. an innO-
cent Berkshire pig. many puppies, a pic
/ tUre frame. a strand OF blonde hair mot
| domesticl. the cough Of boy IN church.
seven poll parrots. the wink OF an eye.
gartersnakc( a tadpOie and eaTWiE The
committee grew tired Of counting banana
and orange skins. to say nothing of the
slippery gang plank, the sensitive boat.
/ the broken oar blade and the tin can
In its details the committee tells of the
/ case OF a young woman IN Washington
who was nearly killed accids ntallY
/ through an innocent parrot The par
rots favorite resting place was gas
night in trying its bill, II turned on the
gas. and the Young woman would have
died if the parrot had not struck match
/ with its bill and lighted the gas
| The tragedy Of The single blonde hair
! happened to William F'ortner OF Bangor.
Ne II was his wife's tress that caused
! Fortner was standing by her side at the
window one breezy evening and tho wind
blew the hair into his mouth. He turned
/ to expel IL quickly when his shoulder hit
! a table upsetting a lamp which set the
| place afirc and burned the house.
The flea accident came from Fresno.
Cal and the flea was a native Of that
state. motorman was just about TO take
/ his car down a steep hlll when the flea
made its presence known just in the No
/ mars land. Just south Of the shoulder
! blade and eastward of the middle Of the
back. THE motorman became SO much
/ a fightfne zone that he forgot his car
/ until IL was too late TO check us speed.
| The motorman received three broken ribs
and numerous Commissions about the face:
The record does not show what became OF
the other participant.
! The mice accidents NWere USUALLY the
| same and consisted OF a nara tive of trac-
! lures received by falls from chairs. tables
| and sofas.
The bumbIebee. as might be supposed.
was winging along the North Adams
/ tMassl country road that Henry Morton
/ was driving over in a surrey. in which
/ were Mrs Morton and several children.
| close contact and his gestures so fright
( ened the horse that II ran away None
were seriously hurt.
/ The picture marks a household tragedy.
I II was being hung by one Theodoro Reich
man OF Beaver. Pa Mrs Re3chman and