Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1916-07-21
FIRST TRAGEDY At CAMP
IN DEATH BY LIGHTNING
Mother of Dead Man, Said to
Be Only Relative, Serious
y III in Augusta
BY WARD GREENE.
(Journal Staff Correspondent.)


CAMP HARRIS, MACON, Ga, July 10.
The death of Andrew K. Key at his post
of duty during the storm which swept
Macon yesterday. brought Camp Harris
its first tragedy. Today the colors at
the camp fly at half-mast and there is
a touch of grim sorrow on the faces
of the men who knew the dead boy and
counted him a jolly comrade and a good
soldier
Key was an Augustan, % years old
He Unlisted in the national guard in
June, 1915. and was among the first
to take the oath when the guard was
called out last month. At Camp Harris
he had passed the medical examination
successfully and was about to be mus
tered into the service of the United
States
He was detailed to guard duty Tues
day morning from his company, D, of the
First infantry. His post was on the
east side of the infantry line near the.
big tent which the Salvation Army has
erected.
When the storm broke on the camp,
Key was expecting his relief Had the
lightning bolt came a few moments Ia
ter, another man would have been in his
place.
The storm was terrific. Three-thirty in
ches of rain fell in Macon in one hour, the
heaviest rainfall in the city's history.
For forty-five minutes rain drowned the
camp. binding, rushing downpour that
sagged the tents with the weight of
the water and turned the company
streets into rivers
Several of the sentries continued to
patrol their posts, bending their heads
to the flood that almost knocked them
off their feet: but at such a time
picket is permitted to seek shelter, pro-
vided he can still watch his beat, and
Key was one of those who sought shell
ter.
HOW KEY WAS KILLED.
He stood in the lea of the Salvation
Army tent with his back against the
pole. 1t must have been the iron rivet
in the top Of the pole that attracted the
stroke, for the pole was smashed,
hole was burned through the top of
Keys hat and his bayonet scabbard
was splintered where the lightning,
ranging down his body, escaped.
People were in the tent looking out
at the rain. One moment, they said,
Key and the picket of the Second in
fantry, Turner Schaufele, of Dublin,
were standing there side by side laugh
ing and talking. The next, Schaufele
fell flat to the ground and Key toppled
over across his body. At the same time,
many of them felt the shock. One or
two staggered. others declare they could
taste the electricity in their mouths.
When they picked the two sentries
up, they found Schaufele unconscious,
but alive. There was no mark on Keys
body but a black streak down his back.
Both boys were taken into the tent and
a doctor called to work on them with
pulmoter. Schaufele soon came around,
but there was never any hope for Key.
II don't remember anything about it,"
Schaufele said afterward. 81 was stand
ing there one minute and the next thing
1 remember is coming to. didn't even
see the flash
Keys home was at 2 Grace street,
Augusta.
The body of Key was sent at 1 o'clock
this morning over the Georgia railroad
to Augusta for funeral and interment,
accompanied by one attendant from his
company.
During the hours Of the funeral serv-
ice, the colors at brigade headquarters
will be lowered to hal fmast. TIE flag
which the Irish Jasper Greens, COM
pany in the First, placed on long pole,
was lowered to half-mast yesterday aft
ernoon.
MOTHER SERIOUSLY ILL
Key is said to have no living relatives
except one-his mother, who is serious
ly i'll in Augusta, according to his friends
in the company 1t is said that she will
not be allowed a pension from the gov
eminent as the First infantry has not
yet been mustered into the service and
Key was still member of the national
guard at the time of his death.
Violent as the storm was which ragged
over the camp, there were no other
fatalities or serious accidents. Captain
j. L. Wall, of the Second infantry, was
sitting on a box in his tent when il
was struck by lightning and he was
thrown to the floor. He was not hurt.
One or two others say they were shock
ed by lightning, but the rain, hard
though it was for time, caused very
little hardship TO the brigade as a whole.
No tents were knocked down and the
water soon ran off in the bitches, So
that the men spent a comparatively dry
night.