The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1923-10-26
WAR TO BE MADE
ON THE ROAD HOG
FAILURE TO DIM LIGHTS is
CAUSE OF TWO BAD ACCI-
DENTS RECENTLY
Suggestion is Made that New Car
Models be Equipped With Holster
for Sawed-off Shotgun; Sane Mot
orists Very Indignant.

The tragic death of John H. Burke,
of Helena, president of the Stock
growers association and head of the
state live stock. commission through
an automobile accident, directly due
to the failure Of the, passing car to
dim lights is calling down the wrath
of serious minded men on the night
road hog, and there are those who
suggest that the, new models of auto
mobiles be equipped with holster
for a sawed-off shotgun, or perhaps
a mount on the steering wheel for a
machine gun. Sane motorists every
where are up in arms.
Burke was the second person with
in month to lose his life from the
same cause, and drivers who ack-
nowledge a sentiment for direct &C
ton are wondering just how effect
ual would be as,charge of buckshot
or a round of machine gun fire if
loosed in the direction of a car that
wantonly endangers. the lives of per-
sons in the machines it meets in the
public highways. There were few
times when men foregathered to dis
cuss the Burke accident that the
question was not put.
Eludes Officers
Efforts made to trace the machine
whose glazing lights forced the Burke
car off the road and into the accident
that cost the driver his life, were flu
tile, but from information gathered
along the Vaughn road, it appears
that had the outlaw machine been a
projectile from a long-range cannon
it would have constituted no less a |
menace to other cars along the road. |
Before it passed the Burke car, the |
outlaw machine ,.was seen several
times, always with. the same glazing |
lights, and going at rate of speed |
that had no regard for the safety of |
the other cars. One automobile party |
whose names could not be learned at |
the time, reported that while they |
were repairing tire by the side of |
the road, the car flashed by, its lights
so binding one man that he, although |
considering himself in the clear, mar
rowIy escaped being run down.
The lights on the Burke car were
dimmed by F. r. Van de Putte, one
of those injured in the accident when
the other machine yWas seen APP
preaching. The outlaw car had fail
ed to dim it's lightss,or to give half
the road, and Burke. who was driving
the machine in which he was riding,
turned towards the, edge, of the grade,
but the glare of the oncominng lights
prevented him from picking his
course. ~,
Turns Over Twice
When the machines were virtually
abreast, the Burke car, caught in the
softer ground at the sideiof the road,
slid off the grade and. turned over
twice. Van de Putte, William Dee of
Butte, and Hugh .Messner, also of 1
Butte, were knocked unconscious,
and Burke sustained a broken leg, a
a fractured skull and conclusion of
the brain. Burke died at Columbus
hospital a short time after he had +
been brought into the" city in pass e
ing automobile. : :; i,
A charge of manslaughter will be +
filed forthwith against the driver of n
the car that forced Rurke's machine v
off the grade, if hescan be found, n
according to Cascade county officials. N
Outside of any accident that may "
result from his act. any driver is a A
violater of state law, if he fails n
to dim his lights when passing an /,
other car. "
This statute was: enacted at the h
last session of the state legislature, r,
and that no driver may offer the old
excuse of Ignorance of the law" the ;,
provisions of the enactment is printed =
on the back of the notice any car y
owner must read when he gets his =
license from the secretary of state. =,