Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1922-08-16
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two women, turned turtle east Of;
Clarkffeld and one Of its occupants,
Lawrence Stewart, t.. OF, Hinckley, Mimi:
burned to death in the fire which fol-
lowed +. s{3 l..5t 1.
The car was owned by VIM. Huff
man.. who with his wife are in charge
Of the laundry att the Riverside San
atorium, and he was: in the back seat
Of the car at the time of the accident,
Miss Freda LEOPOLD, a: cook at the
Sanatorium, was the other occupant
Of the fatal cary,besides Mrs Huffman.
: Girl Drove Car II.
It appears that Mrs. Huffman was
at the wheel Of the Paige. and they.
we're driving from Granite Falls to
Clarkfelh. It is reported that she
was driving about As tof;'50 miles an.
hour, when: at "a point about ~ miles
east of, Clarkfleld : on. the: State Road:
the car hit a: short stretch OF loose
sand and gravel, sweryed and as. she
lost control OF it, it. turned completely
turtle into "a ditch .v;*. ~ II Ely
Mr.. Huffman althot badly cut about
the head and with. three broken ribs,
managed to- crawl out, and by an al
most superhuman effort managed to
raise the car sufficiently: for Miss Lie:
+pold, who was. in the front seat of the
car, to extricate herself, Mrs HUFF.
man was thrown free; Of the car. Y Dung
Stewart, however, was pinned to the
ground under the front seat and try
as he: could Huffman was unable to
get: him out. About that time Editor
Will :Ruud, of the Granite Falls Jour
nal, with his wife,: came by in a car
and together the two men struggled
heroically but vainly to move the car
high enough to extricate the boy. who
was conscious at first.
Many Watch BOY Burn
In the mean time the gasoline tank,
which was Immediately under the
coWl dash and had apparently been
pirctured in the crash, caught fire
and it was only a matter of a few
moments when the entire wreckage,.
with the dying boy, underneath, was a
had been sent. to Clarkfeld and in a
few moments more than a hundred
persons stood about the blazing car
helplessly. watching the seething.
flames burn the unfortunate youth to
crisp. The fire burned So fiercely
and with such terrific heat that not
only was the body of the boy soon
charred mass of ashes but the en-
tire steel framework Of the car, as
we'll as the metal body of the machine,
was left but a small quantity Of twist
ed melted metal. 49,.
Undertaken Gathers Boy's Ashes
An undertaken. from Granite Falls
was called to the scene and after. the
fire had burned itself out, scraped
up what little ashes of the boy could
be found, including charred skull
bone and portions of the bones of
one leg, and took them to Granite,
where they were prepared for ship
ment and taken by his father to St.
Paul fer interment. Mr.. Huffman was
taken to a hospital at Montevideo,
where his injuries, above described,
are being treated. His wife, received
only few minor injuries, besides be
ing badly shaken up and like the cook,
Miss Leopold, has resumed her duties
at the Sanatorium. -
The victim of the tragedy. Law
renee Stewart, had been employed at
the Sanitarium as chore boy or helper
and was just IS years of age.
One thing that somewhat lessons
the shock of the distressing tragedy
is the belief, held by those who were
in the car with him, that young Ste.
wart had been at least rendered un-
conscious, if he was not, in fact, dead
from his injuries, before the flames
caught him, and therefore did not
suffer-. they believe, the t0rtures of
being burned aliye-Canhy News