The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1917-09-15
Private Cross of Expedition
ary Forces Killed Here. !
in Auto Accident.
CAR TURNS TURTLE
AS TIRE EXPLODES
Companion in Machine Seri'
ously Injured-Both Resi-
dents of Seattle.

In the crashing upset of a speeding
automobile on West Main street yes
terday afternoon, death ended the
frightened flight of man who de-
serted from the British army rather
than face the perils Of service in
France.
A worn pair of British trench
shoes" and an army shirt of khaki
served to identify the crushed body
now lying in Coroner Lucy's morgue
as that of Private Cross, late of the
Canadian Expeditionary Forces. and
more recently a tramp" barber in
western Montana. 4
With his head swathed in bandages.
another man. who gives his name as
Robert G. Thompson Of Seattle. lies on
a cot in st. Patricks hospital, nut
tering incoherent denials of any recol-
lection of the automobile upset which
seriously injured him and killed Cross.
Blowout Causes Upset.
The death and injury occurred when
n Ford automobile in which the two
men were riding turned over near the
junction of West Main and West
Front streets, at 4:30 yesterday after
noon. According to. bystanders. the
car was travelling at terrific speed
when front tire blew out. The au-
tomObile turned over and crushed the
skull Of the dead man against the
ground. Thompson was hurled sew
cral feet away.
Thompson's Story Incoherent.
The injured man. who is believed by
Coroner Lucy to have been under the
influence of alcohol, gave his name as
Robert G. Thompson. but asserted that
no one was with him in the machine
when the fatal accident occurred. In
the next breath he denied that he had
been hurt in an auto accident. The
man has evidently temporarily lost his
memory from the blow on the head.
Thompson is my name-SeattlAr r
alone-alone-no one with me-" he
muttered as he tossed on his cot
When Coroner Albion NJ. Lucy
brought the dead man to the morgue
his head was battered beyond recog-
milton, every bone in the head was
broken.
Picture May Discover Wife.
Pictures OF man with woman
and baby boy, were found in the mans
pockets, were thought at first to be
photographs of the dead man and his
family. The man In the picture wore
glasses. a pair of which were found
on the body.
In the spectacle case was slip Of
paper with two names written upon
it-McIntyre and Campbell. Later in
the evening local BARRIERS identified
the man as a tramp barber" and
were certain that the snapshots were
not of him. Coroner Lucy said last
night. however. that he had learned,
piece meal, from various sources that
Cross was married and the father of a
young child and that he was deserter
from the British army. This evidence,
he said, will be assembled and pro-
duced at the inquest.
Roman Man Gives Names.
After the features had been par
tally restored by the undertaken. O..
Mccoy. a Afissoula barber identified
the man as an itinerant barber who
worked day at the shop where he is
employed last January. He Is also
reported to have worked day last
winter in the Imperial Barber shop.
owned by Oscar Helding. This en-
abled investigators to trace Cross back
to Curtis Jeffries, a Roman barber. who
remembered the mans name. Cross
worked for Jeffries last spring.
The man Is dark. is five feet. two
inches in height. has grey eyes and
appears to be about 80 years old. Sew
eral OF his front teeth were gold filled.
He was wearing a rair of English
army trench shoes" and khaki
shirt. The BARRIERS said that he had
mentioned to them last fall that he
had served in the Canadian army.
Though smooth shaven the dead man
was poorly dressed and appeared to
have been a man who was negligent
OF his personal appearance.
colored Man Saw Accident.
The accident was described by
James Adams. a colored man en-
ployed at the Hammond block. an eye
witness.
"The automobile. which had box
on the back of it. was going east on
West Main street" said Adams. THE
Ford was travelling about As miles
an hour when front wheel hit a
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