The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1912-05-31
AUTO TOOK A TWENTY
FOOT DR0P;;AQ]!NE HURT
From Fridays Daily.

From Fridays Daily.
What proved to be one of the
most miraculous escapes from death,
was the thrilling experience Of
Lawrence Henline and a party of
four, when they were carried in Mr..
Henline's automobile down a TWEEN
tyfoOt embankment on the Strand
ravine road about five and one-half
miles out of Mankato, yesterday af-
ternoon. The embankment at the
point caved in and the automobile
was carried down, turning complete
ly over twice. Aside from a few
scratches no one was injured.
Mr. Henline left Mankato about
half past two O'Clock in the after
noon and took with him, his son
Henry, ID. P. Dineen, Albert He'll and
Charles Dauber, to go to the scene
of the wreck on the Milwaukee road.
The party wanted to see the wreck,
but instead, they had a little wreck
experience of their own that they
will not forget soon.
Running at Slow Speed.
The automobile was proceeding up
the long Strand ravine, going at a
rate of about seven or eight miles
an hour, on low speed. About half
ways up the hill, they struck a deep
rut in the road The rut ran for the
rest of the ways up the hill, and it
was very difficult to get out of it.
Henline stopped the machine for a
moment, and then tried to turn out
of the rut The machine jumped to-
ward the right, just as the driver
was about to turn away from the
| deep embankment. He put on the
brake and threw the engine out of
gear, and for a moment, the automo-
bile with its five occupants, stood
poised on the summit about six in
ches from the edge.
Earth Gave Away.
Just then the earth gave away, and
roadway, automobile and all crashed
down twenty feet of almost perpen-
dicular embankment. The automo-
! bile struck a tree, which was badly
! bent over, at the same time throwing
out four of the occupants, all the
cushions, trappings, and fixtures in
i the car. The automobile continued
on its downward course, and struck
two more trees, bending them over,
and threw out the fifth occupant, the
machine itself turning two complete
sommersaults, and then landing at
| the bottom, on all four wheels, as
though nothing in the world had
happened to it. However, when Mr..
Henline arose from the dirt and
mud, he found the machine standing
up to it's hubbs in the soft mud.
Mr.. Henline inquired of the rest If
| they were hurt and found that his
son suffered a few scratches on his
leg, and Albert He'll had sustained a
few bruises and scratches on his
!! face, and all were quite badly fright
I.ened
Only Fender Was Bent.
On Investigation to see what DAM
ages had been done the automobile,
it was found that the fender had
been bent somewhat and the cast
iron piece that holds the exta tire,
was broken, but otherwise hardly a
scratch could be noticed on the ma
chine.
Sent for Assistance.
Mr.. Henline went to neighbor-
ing farm house and called up w. R.
Hammett, who came out with block
and tackle to pull the machine out
of it's resting place in the mud. The
Automobiles then secured the help
of two farmers, Otto Hohenstein and
Mr.. Strand, who lives near the
Strand ravine. With the help of
these farmers, and the block and
tackle, the machine was pulled out
Henlne then cranked the machine
and started off on the return trip to
Mankato, not caring to proceed to
the wreck of the Milwaukee train,
as he thought he had had enough ex-
element for the day.
One of the miraculous incidents
concerning the accident, was the
fact that even the windshield, which
is made of glass was not broken.
fray with hardly a scratch.
In speaking of the happening to-
day, Mr. Henline said: II guess it
was my fault all right. You see |
turned the machine to the right in
stead of to the left. Had l turned
to the left, we would have proceed
ed right up the grade and nothing
would have happened. The farm
ers certainly treated us fine. They
helped us until the very last, when
they saw that we were all right and
ready to return to Mankato."
The car is new Kissel, pur-
chased about two weeks ago by Mr.
Henline, and is considered wonder
to withstand accidents.