Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1922-09-02
fractures of both legs, the bones o


the legs protruding through the skin.
He said that the clothing was slightly
disarranged, not as If the man had
been dragged, but as If he had been
thrown a distance. The man died a
very short time after the doctor ar
rived. He said that while he was at
tending to Rundlette, Mr.. Kent and
the girls who were in the car came
to his house and that when he had got
back to the house he attended one of
the girls who had suffered a cut on
the leg.
On crcss-examination, DR.. Williams
said that he found the man with his
head near the ditch and with his legs
toward the center Of the road, lying
practically at right angles to the side
Of the road. lie said that if he had
made his judgment on the matter SIM
ply from viewing the body he would
have felt that the man had been run
over. He also testified that it looked
as If some car had run out of the road
and hit bank at that point.
Later the doctor testified that the
place where the body was found and
hit the bank were very close together
and that he could hardly imagine the
car hitting the bank after hitting the
man.
Helen Lannigan, another summer
guest at Mount Vernon, II years of
age, then testified. She said that she
had been riding on the front seat with
Lewis and that they had been going
about 80 miles an hour just before ar
irving at the curve. She had sug
gested to Lewis that he slow down
and he had shut his engine down and
| had applied the brake when the lights
| suddenly showed this man very
short distance ahead. Before anything
could. be done the man had been hit
| and Lewis, eXclaimng Good God, I
have killed man, know it," took his
| hands from the wheel and covered his
| face. The car hit something then, the
witness does not know what, and the
windshield was broken, showering
them with glass. She then told Kent
| to stop, and he did. The brake had
| been on all of the time. She said that
| the curve she thought to be more pro-
nounced than, had been shown in the
plan, and that the light did not cover
| the road until too late to avoid hitting
| the man.. They were going about 20
| miles an hour at the time of the first
| impact.
Virginia lannican Testifies
= The States testimony ended here.
| The first witness for the defense was
! Virginia Lannigan, sister of Helen
| Lannigan. In response to questions
| by Attorney Nelson, she testified that
! she was II years old. She had been
in the car at the time of the accident.
/ There were four in the car, Lewis
! Kent and her sister on the front seat,
and she and a boy friend on the
rear seat. Just before the accident
she and the boy had been looking
at the lake which was very pretty in
/ the moonlight and they had not paid
any attention to the road. She
heard her sister speak Of slowing
down and shortly after when she
! looked at the road she saw this man
| IN front of the car. He was at that
! time not more than three or four
feet from the car. She did not think
| that he had been carried by the car
as he disappeared instantly She
did not know. what caused the wind
shield to break, as she felt thu shock
| but did not know what they hit.
| Respondent on Stand
| Young Kent took the stand He
| said that he was 10 years old, had
| Eeen driving for the past two sum-
| mers and had drivers license He
| has never had any trouble before.
| He said that the lights did not pick
! the man up until he was about fifty
| feet from the car. He was then
| about in the left hand wheel track
7 and as the car was slightly to the
| right of the center of the road this
would place the man in the center
! of the road. He did not have time
| then to stop the car. lie said that
he was not accustomed to speeding
and that when Helen Lanngan had
| told him to slow down he had done
| so and that when he saw the man
| he had the car going at about 20
| miles an hour with the engine shut
| down and the break on.
| Kent then testified that he did not
| know what happened after-that I'M
| til he heard Helen Lannigan telling
| him to stop. He said that he was
| fairly we'll acquainted with the road
! there having passed it number of
| times. He also testified that there
are a number of trees there which
would prevent the light of the moon
| from reaching the road, and that even
! then it would be hard to see anyone
| in the moonlight. outside of the path
of light cast by the head lights.