Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1915-04-27
DR.. Slater of Jewell Strikes Helmar
Alvestad, Young Farmer Of
Rose Grove Town
ship, With Car.
LATTER DIES AN HOUR LATER
DR.. Slater Returning From Iowa
Falls-Mr. Alvestad Stepped
in Front of Car.

A frightful accident occurred
Sunday afternoon about ten min
utes past four o'clock in Rose Grove
township when DR.. E. w. Slater, re-
turning from Iowa Falls to Jewell
in his automobile, struck and fatally
injured Helmar Alvestad, young
farmer who had started to walk
across the road in front of the Slat-
er car.
The affair occurred just before the
hard shower of the afternoon as Dr..
Slater of Jewell, accompanied by his
wife and son and the Misses Fisher
and Reike, teachers in the Jewell
schools, were returning home from
Iowa Falls, whittier they had driven
In the formers car. They had driv-
en- the twenty-five or more miles at
an average of about twenty miles
per hour and DR.. Slater testified at
the inquest that his speedometer at
the moment he struck, Mr.. Alvestad
was registering that rate of speed.
The road past the Alvestad home
runs north and south and brother
in-aaw had just driven from the
north to the home, with the Alves-
tad family, stopping the car on the
west side Of the road and .letting
Mrs. Alvestad out on the right side
OF the car while Mr.. Alvestad alight-
ed upon the left side which was in
the road. DR.. Slater, who approach
ed also from the north, testified that
he blew his horn within forty feet of
the car, but the Alvestad family
state that none of them heard it.
This may be accounted for by the
fact that the engine in the Alvestad
auto was running and also that the
wind was In the south.
DR.. Slater stated that he saw Mr..
Alvestad as he alighted from the car
turn around with his arms out
stretched as If he were about to put
on the side curtains, but in reality
he was reaching for his baby in the
auto, the latter being in his arms
when he was struck by the Slater
car and thrown into a ditch at the
east side of the road, the baby escap-
ing without a scratch. Just as the
Slater auto passed the Alvestad car,
about five feet to the left of it, Mr..
Alvestad turned and stepped directly
in front of the Slater car, and was
0rried ten or twelve feet before he
rolled down under the wheels which
passed over him. Mr.. Alvestad was
carried into his home where he liv-
ed about one hour, the direct cause
of death being a fracture at the base
Of the skull. DR.. Slater at once call
ed Drs. Wyatt and McCauliff of this
city but the injured man died before
they could reach him.
Coroner Arch Foster Of this city
held an inquest at $3.50 o'clock
Sunday night at the Alvestad home,
calling DR.. O'Connor of Williams and
a jury composed of z. Slade, G. j.
and A. J. Mccoy, who
found that the deceased met his
death by injuries sustained by being
run over by an automobile.
No evidence of carelessness or fast
could be found as it was
brought out in the inquest that DR..
Slater, while capable of running a
car very swiftly in response to a pro-
fessional hurry call, is under no cir
custances regarded as a careless
driver The shocking affair was, or
appears to be, simply an accident for
which no one in particular is to
blame, so far as the evidence seems
to indicate.
Helmer Alvestad is young farm
err twenty-eight years of age and
leaves a young wife only nineteen
years of age and babe in arms, be-
side brothers and sisters-all of
whom who are almost prostrated ov-