Los Angeles herald., 1909-12-16
BISSFLL TELLS
ABOUT ACCIDENT
MISS CLAYP0OL REFUSED TO
JUMP
YOUNG WOMAN MIGHT HAVE
SAVED HER LIFE
Brake Pedals Became Useless and Car
Was Going Sixty Miles an
Hour When 1t Shot
Over Edge
Especial to The Herald.l


PASADENA, Dec. ia careful in
vestigation of the cause of the accident
which caused the death of Miss Agnes
Claypool last evening and the serious
injury of Harvey Bisseil, son Of the
late Millionaire manufacturer Of the
Bissell carpet sweeper, shows that the
transmission rod back of the engine on
the racing car snapped off under the
strain of holding the heavy machine
on the steep down grade. The broken
end Of the transmission then dropped
to the ground, lifting the rear axle a
little as it passed from pointing for
ward to pointing backward and tearing
out connections, as the axle case
turned until all brakes on the car were
useless.
Harvey Bissell was able for the first
time, today, to give his version Of the
accident which cost the Pasadena So
ciety girl her life. They reached the
so-called Eagle Rock cut just as the
sun was sinking in the west, and
paused for about five minutes to watch
1t go down. Then they started to coast
down the Eagle Rock grade, intending
to go to the Annandale country club,
which was to the south.
Pedals Become Useless
Bissell states that they had not gone
very far down the steep grade until
something broke about the engine. He
had one foot on the engine pedal and
the other on the brake pedal. When
the rod snapped both pedals We're at
once useless. He quickly grabbed the
hand brake, but because of the turn
ing of the transmission rods broken
end. that was also out of commission
/, IN 14a1NF hf
greatest good luck would see them
safely at the bottom of the steep grade
with its many and dangerous turns
He then advised the girl to jump,
but instead she linked her arm through
his and said: I'm all right, Suds.
addressing him by his nickname, "pl
STAY with you" Aside from her scream
for help when the car shot over the
brink of the 100-foot fall, those were
the last words she uttered.
Bissell says that they were going at
least sixty miles an hour as they
neared the last and most dangerous
Miss Claypool to jump, edging out
toward the side Of the road to give heI
room, but she shook her head and SAT
fast. Had she jumped she probably
would have escaped with her life.
Clinging to the wheel, Bissen tried
to make the turn in the swaying car
hut il was no use The big machine
shot out over the edge, and it was then
that Miss Claypool uttered her terrible
cry for help. which several people liv-
ing on San Rafael Heights heard.
Draus Himself to Body
For a few minutes after he struck
on the ground and rocks below BisselI
was partly unconscious. When he re-
gained consciousness he tried TO get
IN and walk to Miss Claypool, who lay
some thirty feet from him, face down.
ward. He then found that his right
leg was broken. Dragging himself
along the ground, he finally reached
Miss Claypoors side and then turned
the body over. AS he did so he found
that his right shoulder blade was
broken. The girl was breathing and
blood was flowing copiously from her
mouth. for seven ribs on her right side
had been broken and thrust through
her right lung. She was unconscious,
probably from a blow on her head, and
was hurt entirely by hitting the
ground, as she had been thrown clear
of the wreck.
Bissell succeeded in getting her head
on his lap. She was still breathing.
He thinks he sat thus for ten minutes
netOre a man Ndlhbu lONh Viz Ac1'N'
He shouted to him. and then help was
quickly summoned, and the injured
man and woman were carried to the
home of George Richardson, near the
scene of the accident, where Miss Clay
pool soon died.
The exact extent of Bissell's injuries
was discovered today by the attending
surgeon. The young man has badiy
wrenched spine, but the spinal cord L
unhurt. it is believed; compound
fracture of the right leg below the knee
and a broken right shoulder blade. In
addition 1t was discovered today that
he has a broken left rib.
The funeral of Miss Claypool Will be
held Thursday afternoon at $3.50 o'clock
from the family residence, $50 South
Grand avenue. The body Will be taken
r. Tndianapolis for interment in the
family burying ground, for Indian
apolis is regarded by the family as
home. though the major portion of the
past twenty-one years has been spent