Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1918-07-26
TWO BOYS ELECTROCUTED,
ONE KILLED, OTHER
MAY DIE
High Power Transmission Line Breaks
Near Bateman, Catching Three
Boys Trudging Along
Road

Two sons OF William ScndeIor were
electrOcuted Wednesday on the Chip
pewa-C adott trunk line road about 20
rods west of the Schaefer home near
Bateman station. The two boys are
William, age 10, and Lawrence, 10
years old William is dead and Law
renee is badly burned by electricity so
that he is not expected to live. The
accident happened between 2 80 and
? 40 o'clock Wednesday afternoon
About 2 :45 o'clock w. D. Cameron, of
Chippewa Falls, and Imbert Roe, of
Stanley, came along the road in Mr..
Roe's car headed for Chippewa. They
saw several women and one or two
aged men out in the road making quite
a demonstration. AS they neared the
scene they noticed one boy in the barb
wire fence on the north side of the road
and the other boy was also in the barb
wire fence, screaming at the top of his
voice The oldest boy was dead.
On the south side of the road the
Chippewa-Cadott transmission wire
had broken and the ends lay down
along the fence. This is the wire that
takes the electricity to Cadott, Boyd,
Stanley and Thorpe. Messrs. Roe and
Cameron extricated the. youngest boy
by cutting his shirt and pulling him
out. The boy that was dead was left
in the fence. DR.. McRae and Coroner
Henry Larson rushed to the scene.
Soon a lineman from WissOta was
WI no
been sent to the Power Co. office at
Wissota and the current was shut off
the high power transmission wire.
1t seems a mystery that the boys
should have been caught in the. barb
wire fence on the opposite side of the
road from where the transmission wire
had fallen down. Just as Messrs. Roe
and Cameron eXtricated the living lad
from the barb WIRE William Schaefer,
the father, arrived on the scene and he
was frantic.
Lawrence Schaefer was brought to
the hospital at o'clock. His right
arm is burned to the bone in a spot of
inches around on the big muscle above
the elbow. He has several burns on
other parts of the body.
There were three lads going down
the road east to the Schaefer home
the two Schaefers and neighbor lad.
They had been to visit VIM. Schaefer,
ST., who was working on the highway
at Paint Greek bridge. Strangely the
transmission wire broke suddenly Op-
pOsite the lads. AS the ends touched
the ground a great blaze of electricity
fiared out. The boys dashed to the
other side of the road to get away.
The two Schaefer boys reached the
barb wire fence which now became
charged with the powerful current.
VIM. Schaefer, Jr., touched the wire
and was instantly killed. He has only
two or three burned spots under his
chin.
Lawrence Schaefer reached the
fence a few seconds later to get
through the fence When he touched
the fence he was badly burned but not
killed. being rescued as stated. The
third boy did not get to the fence. He
says he could not lift his feet from the
wet ground to get to the fence. He
saw the plight of the other lads and
headed down the road to Schaefer's
house and escaped This lad is about
10 years old. Had the boys kept in
the road they would have escaped
Chippewa Falls Herald.