The Mathews journal. (Mathews C.H. [Court House]) 1903-1937, 1912-08-01
HAS MIRACULOUS
ESCAPE FROM death

ASHINGTON, ID. c., Special. -
Plunging headlong from a window on
the seventh floor of the New Berne
apartment house. at Twelfth Street
and Massachusetts Avenue. North
west, about o'clock last evening
Mrs. Florence T.. Massey, the young
wife of James @. Massey a clerk in
the Office of the Secretary of the In
terror, went hurting down for n sheer
fall of eighty-tiVe feet into an asphalt
paved areaway, escaping instant death
but Shatering her right limb Mrs
Massey was not rendered unconscious
but suffered such a nervous shock
from her experience that she was I'M
aole TO tell a coherent story of the
accident beyond the fact that she had
lost her balance while reaching far
out the back window of her apart
ment 10 pin handkerchief to the
edge of the awning.
Miss Lillian Humphrey. OF apart
ment "a, and Russell DuVall, the tele-
phone operator, living at 621 A Street.
Northeast both heard the rattle of
the chain on the sliding fire escape.
and both they ana Mr. Massey ex-
pressed pre- the belief that Mrs; Massey
hau managed to grasp the chain, which
ran just alongside the window, in her
plunge and TO hold on long enough
to break the force of her fall.
Dennis Council, employed in the Gov
Stnlhent printing office, and living at
!ll5 Massachusetts Avenue, adjoining
the New Berne. saw Mrs Massevs
form go past his window on the second
moor and heard the impact OF her body
as 1t struck the pavement below With
Charles II. Clark with whom he lives
ne was the first TO reach Mrs. Massey'S
SIDE They found Mrs. Massey sitting
upright with her back to the wall i'm
one complete SOmersault before strik-
lhE the ground. She could not speak
so Inc men En- carried the injured woman
uoMH nlSht OF steps into the base
mcnt OF the New Berne. where She was
placed on the elevator AS she was
DSSanS taken upward she murmured
50, the number OF the apartment OF
her sister, Mrs. W. W. Bolls. and her
mother. Mrs. Bowers. into which aparf-
ment she was taken. DIR Charles
Wheatley, whose office is on the nrsI
moor, was IN the hallway. and gave Mrs.
Massey immediate attention. Dr. Neal
HIaham' OF apartment %, was also
SUMMONED. The physicians found that
MP fracture Of the bone between
the hip and the knee, and a fracture
3 Of the ankle, all Of the right limb.
W hlle there was no evidence OF serious
internal injuries, the physicians said il
was too soon TO tell the exact extent
OF Mrs. Masseys injuries. 1t was some
little time before Mrs. Bowers and Mrs
Boils were told how their daughter and
sister had been hurt. Both would have
tainted from shock but FOR the minis
trations of the physicians
Was Alone In Apartment
Mr.. Massey arrived from his office
shortly after the accident From what
he could learn OF his wife's fall she
was alone IN the apartment at the time
ne said, her small son, Howard. being
IN the apartment of his grandmother
The other son, Reynolds, is visiting in
Baltimore Mr.. Massey said that his
vile had leaned out of the window al
the back of their apartment to pin
handkerchief 10 the edge Of the awning
TO dry. The sill is quite low, he said
hardly more than is inches high He
thinks his wife lost her balance and
fell. most likely headforemost. There
was no evidence that she had struck
an awning on a window below, he said
though II was possible that her fan
may nave also been broken in that wav
Thought Her "Esundle of Rags
Dennis Connell said he thought at
I nrst that someone had thrown a bundle
OF rags from an upper window. Miss
| humphrey and Russell Duvall. both of
| Whom heard the rattle OF the chain
| looked out the window and raised the
alarm as they saw Mrs. Massey sitting
IN crumpled head on the ground. Mrs
Massey was not removed to a hospital
put VIII remain in her sisters fiat for
the time being
The accident caused the greatest ex-
cltement in the apartment house, and
few could believe after viewing the
scene Of Mrs. Massey's fall that she
had actually plunged from the top
] moor to the hard pavement below with
out being instantly killed.