The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1915-12-23
JOINT FUNERAL HELD
At BERTh0lD
LAST SAD RITES OVER REMAINS
OF FIVE PROMISING BOYS
WHO MET DEATH-FUNERAL
OF DRIVER HELD AT KEN.
MARE-CORONER'S INQUEST.

OOyS Wne met Tragic OeaLn ~ INe
railway crossing Friday afternoon,
when the Oriental Limited, No. 2,
crashed into q school bus, was held
from Odd Fellows hall at Berthold
Monday morning at 10 o'clock.
Those whose memories were honor
ed were:
Leonard, aged IA, and Mearle, aged
10, sons of Mr.. and Mrs. Hudson Mil
ler.
severt, aged 10, and Anton, aged 8,
sons Of Mr.. and Mrs. 0. A. Hagen.
> Harry, aged 7, son of Mr.. and Mrs.
Harry Arnold. 49,.
The large building was not large
enough to hold the immense crowd
that had gathered from far and near.
The five caskets, placed in the front
of the hall, were banked with flowers,
tributes to the memory of the manly
little fellows whose lives were snuffed
out in the twinkling Of an eye. The
schools and all places of business were
closed. The ministers from the three
Berthold churches had charge Of the
impressive services, Rev. e. s. Petry
Of the Brethren church, Rev. T. !.
Miner Of the Congregational church,
and Rev. O. s. Varud Of the Lutheran
church. The pail bearers were school
mates Of the fittle lads. The remains
Of the Hagen lads and Harry Arnold
were inferred in the Berthold ceme-
tery, while those of the two Miller
boys were taken back to the old home,
Warsaw, Ind. A joint choir sang a
number of appropriate selections.
There was scarcely a dry eye in the
vast crowd for the boys were all man
" little fellows and that entire section
mourns their untimely death. They
were all to have participated in the
Christmas exercises that were sched-
uled to be given this week, but these
have all been dispensed with. This
will be very sad Christmas for Ber--
thold. The heartbroken parents and
other members Of the families have
the sympathy Of all.
The funeral Of John Ahern, the
driver of the bus, was held from the
Catholic church at Kenmare Monday
morning. The remains were buried
beside those Of his father. Mr.. Ahern
was highly respected young farmer
residing with his mother south OF
Berthold. He leaves two brothers and
six sisters.
Waillard, the nine-year-old son of
Mr.. and Mrs. Harry Arnold, who was
found on the pilot of the engine, is
growing better and doctors believe
that he will recover. He was uncon-
scious when found and his injuries
were so serious that it was not be-
lieved that he could possibly. survive.
His left arm was fractured at the
shoulder joint and he sustained COM
pound fracture of the right leg six
inches above the ankle He was in
jured internally, bleeding profusely,
but he is now growing better. He re-
members but very little concerning
!, the accident. He says he remembers
of being struck by something and then
everything appeared dark. The boys
did not see the train coming, but were
watching the switch engine near the
depot.
Coroner Doe and Assistant States
Attorney Herigstad went to Berthold
Saturday morning where the inquest
was held. The jury, consisting Of D,
F. Sweeney, w. J. Hughes and c. O.
Strom. placed the blame on no one
The engineer of No. 2, Art Compton
of Minot, gave testimony at the in
quest. Mr.. Compton and his crew are
not blamed in the least for the acci-
dent. which could not have been avoid
ed by them under any circumstances,
No. 2 was running nearly an hour late
and was running quite fast to make up
time, but never slowed down much at
Berthold. The school bus came up
behind a string Of freight cars that
had been run onto the branch line and
the driver of the bus appeared on the
track before he had an opportunity to
know that the train was coming. Ey-
identity, he supposed that the train
had already passed thru the town.. 1t
is believed that he saw the train when
it was but few rods away and whip
ped up his horses, trying to get across
the track ahead Of the engine.
lnkster Woman Accidentally Killed