The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1914-10-19
THE INJURED.


Robert Smith, hemorrhaae Of the
left lung and hemorrhage Of the kid
neys. Seriously injured, but not nee
essariiy fatally.
Alvin Threewitts, neck wrenched
and face cut.
Benjamin Barnes, hip badly bruised.
Robert Ashby, slightly bruised.
Late Saturday night Ben Barnes.
an automobile mechanic, and Robert
Ashby, circulation solicitor for the
Item, an afternoon newspaper, induced
Robert Smith, tester employed by
the Wayne Works, to take them Joy
riding" in a five passenger automobile,
which Smith owns jointly with Ed
Brinker and Dale Bowers.
The trip was concluded in two min
utes' time, when rig driven by Alvin
Threewitts, an Arlington township farm
er, was demolished near the east end
of the Main street bridge. and the car
plunged into the north railing, breaking
off a whole section. and hurting Smith
headlong into the valley. fifty-five feet
below He alighted on pile OF Gin
ders, and is now confined at Reid hos
pital. His condition is serious, al
though at first he was not thought to
be very badly injured, having sus-
tanned no broken bones.
bangles on Railing.
Barnes and Ashby were both thrown
from the back seat and narrowly es-
capped falling off the bridge. When
the advance guard Of the large crowd
which flocked to the bridge reached
the scene, Barnes was found on the
II ~ff hn
bridge Ashby was on top of the
broken railing, his head hanging down.
and perilously near losing his balance
and tumbling into the bottoms. The
fore part Of the automobile was of
the bridge. 1t was prevented from vol
planning into the valley by the rear
wheel holding securely to the curbing.
Threewitts, whose rig had been
struck from behind, was found wan
dering about in q daze when the crowd
reached the scene. His face was cut
and his neck wrenched, but he insisted
that he was not badly hurt, and later
secured another rig and drove home.
The horse was uninjured and made no
effort to run away after the accident.
Barnes and Ashby had been drink
ing and failed to realize what mar
row escapes they had from death until
the next morning" said Chief of Police
Goodwin today Il do not believe Smith
was drunk. although he may have been
drinking that night. We are making
an investigation of the case to de-
termine whether the three young men
will be prosecuted
Police for Prosecution.
At the board meeting this morning
the sentiment was expressed that the
young men should be prosecuted. The
city will repair the damage done TO
the bridge at once and then present
the bill to Smith, Ashby and Barnes.
Smith told friends after the accident
that Threewitts was driving in the
center of the bridge between the car
tracks and the sidewalk. He said ne
decided to pass around the rig to the
north, which is a violation of the traf-
fic regulations, because he did not
want to drive on the car tracks. Smith
says that Just as he turned his car to
the right Threewitts turned in the
same direction. The automobile hit
the rig with such force that it broke
it into kindling wood. Then the right
frame of the machine, just under the
radiator snapped and the car plunged
with the force of battering ram into
the railinghurling Smith over the wind
shield far out into the pitchy darkness
of the river valley. Threewitts says
he was driving close to the sidewalk
and that the automobile struck his rig
as it swerved to the left.
"Some Drop" He Said.
When the first arrivals learned that
Smith was in the river valley they
went to search for him, expecting to
find him dead. They had no lights,
and their search would have been a
difficult one if Smith had not been con-
scious and directed them to the place