The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-09-27
J.P. Parker, S. K. Bookham. Mrs. w. D. O'Brien and Miss Blanche Hurd Also Injured
MACHINE BECOMES
 UNMANAGEABLE AND
 SWERVES ON CURVE
Brings Up Against Water Main 15 Feet From Road. BO0kham Pinned Between Car and Pipes

Garland Reeves, aged "A years, sol Ethel avenue, West End, an empIoye of the Armstrong Hat company, was almost instantly killed yesterday aft ernoon st o'clock and four others seriously injured when an automobile owned by Mrs. w. D. O'Brfen, Wood- lawn Heights, swerved off the Rose dale road while going at . high rate of speed.
 The injured
 Mrs. w. D. O'Brien. Woodlawn Heights, broken elbow, decorations about head and body; badly bruised.
 Miss Blanche Hurd, daughter of Mrs. O Brien, badly bruised, minor cuts about head and body.
 J. P. Parker of Montgomery, registered at the Tutwiler, badly bruised, probably injured internally; decorations about face and body.
 s. K. Bookham, 432 South Fifty-fourth street, fractured ankle. minor cuts and bruises.
 The accident occurred about a mile south of the crest of Red mountain on the Rosedale road at Three Points The machine loaded with six people, including the negro chauffeur, was coming towards Birmingham and according to those who saw the car a few seconds before the accident was going at high speed.
 Stopped by Water Mains
 The car suddenly swerved from the, road on the last hill before reaching the crest of the mountain and must have turned around at least twice before stopping against the big mains of the Birmingham Waterworks company, which are about 15 or 20 feet from the road It is con- sidered remarkable that the car did not turn turtle. s. K. Bookham was pinioned under the car when assistance arrived and the machine was pushed off him. The front wheels of the car were across the water main and Bookham was pinned between the pipes and the rear wheels. The others were thrown to the ground and sustained injuries.
 The machine was a 1916 model of high power, and was capable Of great speed. l.. b. Witt. 1911 Third avenue, one of the first on the scene, said:
 "The machine must have been making about 50 or at least 40 miles an hour when 1t passed me just minute before the accident They narrowly missed me and great cloud of dust hid them from view. after they passed. When I came to the place where the accident occurred one of the men was pinned beneath the car. although 1t was not overturned. l believe the accident was caused by the chauffeur going at an excessive rate of speed on the slight curve just as you start to ascend the hill. The car should have been on the right hand side of the road, but instead it was on the left hand side My opinion Is that when the car began to skid toward the left hand side of the road, the chauffeur, in his effort to right 1t, caused 1t to skid all the more The earth at the edge of the road gave way and the rear end of the car swung the machine around. It would have run into lake nearby had it not struck the main of the Birmingham Waterworks company. The front axle was broken, the windshield demolished and the lenders bent. do not think any of the wheels were smashed. Ambulances were called immediately and Shaw & Son and Warner & Smith were on the scene in a few minutes"
 Injured Rushed to Infirmary
 The injured were carried to the South Highland sinfirmary in the two ambu- lances Reeves was dead by the time he reached the infirmary. His skun was crushed, and nearly every bone in his body was broken. Reeves was sitting in |one of the auxiliary seats in the tonneau of the car, when thrown to the ground. No one was in the front seat with the chauffeur. Clifford Black. negro, was driving and was uninjured. He disap- peared after the accident It is said he made a statement after the accident to some of those who were on the scene, that he struck a rock in the middle of the road and it broke. the front axle. making the car uncomfortable.
 Robert w. Ewing was on the scene of the accident minute or 50 after it oc- cured, and said:
 When arrived the occupants of the car were lying on the ground and all appeared to be badly hurt I assisted some men in pushing the car off the body of Bookham, who was underneath 1t. I think the accident was caused by the left hand bank of the road giving away causing the car to become ,inman- ageable. It is remarkable that the car did not turn over The high speed of the car and the momentum it had gained as 1t sped up the hill must have caused it to turn around several times before hitting the water main. This accounts