The weekly tribune and the Cape County herald. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1914-1918, 1917-03-15
MRS. STATLER, 3
CHILDREN,DROWN
UNDER AN auto
Wife of Sedgewickville Doc
tor and Babies Succumb as
He Faints on Bank.
BODIES ARE BROUGHT
TO BOLLINGER COUNTY
Story of Tragedy in Iowa is Told
to Relatives-Funerals This
Afternoon.

The story of the tragic deaths OF
the wife and three children of DR.
Edward K. Statler, of Bollinger Count
ty, wag given to the residents Cd
Sedgewickville yesterday afternoon
following the arrival home of DR.
Statler with the bodies of his dead. He
reached that city from Cantrell, Ia,
where the bodies of his wife and chill
dren were taken following their death
in an automobile accident, which oc-
Cured near Milton, Ia.
The automobile, in which the Stat
lers We're driving, went over an en-
bankment into a swollen brook. Mrs.
Statler and three of her four children
drowned before they could be reached.
DIR. Statler, who was badly injured,
managed to extricate himself and
saved one of his children. The bodies
of Mrs. Statler and her little ones
will be buried in the family burial
grounds in Sedgewickville this after
noon, and the whole countryside will
attend. 1t is expected to be the big
gest funeral ever held in the village.
DR.. statler and his family were
known and well-liked by the people
of Bollinger County. His children
were born in Sedgewickville, and he
and his wife were known to every
inhabitant of the town and most of
the people in the county.
The physician decided sometime ago
to move from Missouri to Cantrell, Ia.
They decided to ship their belongings
and make the trip by automobile. They
babe their friends and relatives in
Sedgewickville goodbye early last
week, and started for their new home
bearing with them the good wishes of
Sedgewickville.
The trip from Bollinger County to
Iowa was made without mishap, ex-
cept for the usual tire trouble, and
they were nearing their destination
when the fatal mishap overlook them.
They had been driving through hard
rain for several hours, and the rain
was running down the windshield, OBJ
securing the view of DR.. Statler.
They were just fourteen miles from
Cantrell, and DR.. Statler was driving
above the average speed in order that
the long trip could be brought to an
end as soon as possible.
The rain had so handicapped the
physicians vision that he could not
watch the road but only a short dis
lance ahead. Not familiar with the
highway, he suddenly found himself
confronted by sharp turn, skirting
a nembankment. The Statler car skid
ded as it made the turn, and in spite
of the physicians efforts to keep it
in the road, the machine slipped over
the embankment, and in falling to the
bottom, it overturned.
The rain had filled the ditch to the
brim with water, and kept the ma
chine from settling upon the trapped
victims. DR.. Statler, who was thrown
partly to the side, was struck as the
machine crashed into the stream. He
was seriously hurt about the legs and
face, but he managed to release him.
self and sought to rescue his family.
His son, John, three years old, was
struggling under the edge of the ma
chine, and the physician Seized him
and dragged him from the water.
He then began trying to extricate
his wife and the other three children
but the shock that he had sustained
and the drowning pleas of his family
overcame the physician and he col,
lapsed. He was found unconscious by
a passing automobile party, who re.
moved the bodies of Mrs. Statler and
the three children from their imprison'
ment. Life was extinct when they
were recovered. The children, were
Kendall, s; Helen, a, and Carl, 1 veal
old. DR.. Statler and his remaining
SON were taken to Cantrell with thu
bodies of Mrs. Statler and the three