Free trader-journal and Ottawa fair dealer. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1920-1927, 1922-07-17
PREcIPITATES BIG CAR
INTO GULLEY DURING
SUNDAYS STORM
LEAPS TO SAT- ETY.
JUMPS AFTER MACHINE START
Ed WILD DASH OVER EMBANk.
MENT-BLAMES BAD BRAKES
AND ESPATTERED WIND.
SHIELD FOR ACCIDENT,

Opening his throttle to full speed
ahead so as to get out of the storm
OF Sunday afternoon, Arthur Samp.
son, an Odell, ILL.,, man of about 27.
plunged his Studebaker touring car
over a three foot embankment and
thence down the first ravine at the
mead of Highland Place, South Otta.
wa. and came out Of the accident with.
out a scratch on his person or a tear
in his clothing.
lhe mishap to SIMPSONS car and
MS escape from injury reaches the
peak OF Sunday miracles" that have
been occurring to autoists in and about
Ottawa without any being killed since
the touring season opened
Ravine 100 Feet Deep.
me ravine where SIMPSONS car
took its hair-raising plunge is about
hundred feet deep along it's precipi
tous surface and on a Perpendicular
line from the street level to the bot
tom is estimated at from sixty to sew
enty feet. As tho it were guided bv
an unseen force the tonneau threaded
its way down the almost perpendicu.
lar slope amidst dense undererowth
OF shrubs and bushes twisted bv
scores OF large trees and brought up
az the bottom of the gully notified
win huge bowlders. on "all fours."
The driver after his car had lurch-
ed over an embankment three feet
above the street. level and started
down the steep inclined, stayed at
the wheel in an ATTEMPT to stop the
machines mad race down the gully.
nntil he had covered have the dis.
tance to the bottom. Seeing that he
was pittod against odds no human
could conquer, he leapcd from the seat
and saved himself from injury in any
way The auto, freed of its own re-
straining force, dashed headlong
down the rest of the wav and brought
up in the ravine standing almost on
its nose with its back in the air al
most at an angle of ninety degrees.
Crawling thru the thick under
growth to the top of the ravine Samp-
son was wont to abandon the car and
leave it to its fate down in the deep
and uninviting pit but was persuad-
ed to call the Condc wrecker and its
crew of holsters to salvage what they
could of the Studebaker
Dragged Up Precipitous Slope.
For several hours they worked
strenuously and finally about 10:20 o.
clock at night snagged the car to the
top An examination revealed a brok-
en- wheel. a smashed hub, a dented
front end and a lot Of scratches. but
the motor was in good running con-
dition and careful inspection show
ed there was more salvage than dam
age to the machine.
Sampson is describing the accident
to friends said he turned onto Pros
pect avenue during the storm, bent on
getting his cousin to take her to the
train. He thought, when he angled
onto Highland Place, an extension Of
Prospect avenue, that he was on Van
Buren, street. When he came to the
parking in front of the j. b. Hoxie
and ]. ], Costello homes he realized
he was off his course, but the realiza-
tion came too late for him to bring
his car down to a slow gate. The auto
careened over the embankment and
then shot over the hill into the gully.
His brakes, he said, failed to function
properly and prevented his making the
quick turn onto the street skirting
the ravine. This combined with a
slippery pavement caused him to lose
complete control of the car and then
came the crash with it's almost disas-
trous results.
His windshield, he said, was be-
spatted with rain and made vision
thru the wet glass exceedingly difficult
ty.
Brushes Ford of Road.
While driving his Ford sedan on
the hard road between here and Mar
seilles near serious accident oc-
CURED to J. A. Irwin of Seneca. Mr..
Irwin was driving along at moder-
ate rate of speed when a heavier car
scraped the side of the Ford and
crowded 1t into the ditch. The fact
thar Mr. Irwin did not get excited
and lose control of the car prevented
the car from tipping over. The driver
Of the car that caused the accident
did not stop to see what damage he
had caused, but put on additional
speed
An auto that was near ar the time
gave chase, but as far as could be
learned this morning the pursuit was
useless.
The Ford was not damage to any
extent and Mr. Irwin was able to
continue on his way.