Connecticut western news., 1907-11-07
AUTO GOES DOWN BANK
AND LENOX MAN LOSES HIS LIFE

Reckless Running Causes Catastrophe
 Near Sharon Station, N. Y,
 Stories of Chauffeur and Eye Wit
 nesses do not Agree.
 l The automobile accident near Sharon Station, N. Y. last Wednesday after noon, which resulted in the death of T. l H. Morse of Lenox, Mass, has caused 1 increased public sentiment against ohauffeurs being allowed to run automo- piles without first passing rigid exam ination and the denying of chauffeurs' licences to those addicted to the use of liquor. Such law is now proposed in New York state and there Is wide spread desire that it may pass and that other states may also adopt it.
 MT. Morse, the manager of an auto mobile garage in Lenox, in company with Charles w. Scott, chauffeur for William J. Boardman, father of Mrs. W. Murray Crane of Dalton, departed from Great Harrington Wednesday morning for the New York automobile show, where they were to meet MT. Boardman.
 Scott said that all the way south from badly washed and very muddy. They had gotten about mile north of Sharon Station when they ran into mud hole and were badly joltsd up. A little further on was sharp turn in the road and a bridge over ten foot creek.
 Just as they were approaching the bridge, the steering geer failed to work and the machine crashed into post rail which guarded the bridge embankment. 1 The post gave way and the machine rolled down the eight-foot bank into the creek. The automobile did not turn tur- tie, but remained on all four wheels in the bottom of the stream in about two feet of water. MT. Scott was at the steering wheel. Scott further said: ''I saw at once that had lost control of the automobile, and yelled to MT. Morse to jump for his life. cannot tell just how he happened to get so severely hurt, but think that in trying to jump out he must have gone over the front of the machine and struck rock in the bed of the creek.
 "When regained my senses I was in about two feet of water and looking about saw MT. Morse lying unconscious irf the stream beside the automobile.
 "I picked him up and carried him to the bank A farmer, Smith Kilmer, saw the accident and hurried to our as- sistance. In about twenty minutes MT. Morse regained his senses and with our help walked for several rods to the far mer's house. We noticed cut on the head and he said that his side pained him. We thought, however, that it was not serious and that he would soon get over it.
 We called in Dr. Chaffee of Sharon, who found no bones broken. In fact, aside from slight bruise and cut on the face there seemed to be no marks of injury on his body and after giving him some medicine Dr. Chaffee returned home.
 "Along about four o'clock MT. Morse appeared to grow worse. He complain ed more of the injury to his side, al- though none could be seen on the out side and l at once telephoned for Dr. Ohaffee to return. He hurried over aud advised me to take MT. Morse at once to the Pittsfeld hospital which was done. He died that night"
 The physicians found that crushing injury had been inflicted on the right side. The pelvis was crushed, the kid neys fractured and other internal in- juries, with attending hemorrhage, sus- tained. There was also fracture at the base of the skull and one or two scalp wounds.
 Scott's story of the accident sounds plausible, but it does not agree with the versions of those who saw the machine on the road just before the fatality. Scott maintains that he was running not more than 10 or 15 miles per hour. People who saw the machine before the crash say the speed was at least 40 miles per hour and it is further stated that the road was perfectly dry and that there was no mud hole "about mile north of Sharon Station" It is 8 matter of common report that Scott had been drinking. The prevailing idea in Sharon is that the cause of the accident was reckless running and too much liquor.