The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1923-03-24
DAMAGE SUIT
! BEING TRIED
BEFORE JURY
Claim of Edward kafer For
Damages on Account of
Death of Boy Heard
ACCIDENT is REVIEWED
Plaintiff Claims Negligence
in Accident in Which Boy
Was Killed

Trial Of damage suit which grew
out of an automobile accident which
cnveIopcd the city in gloom last oc-
cupicd the district court today. Ed
ward NJ. Kafer, deputy sheriff, is
suing Mrs. Susanna Hultbcrg for
$4,000 damages because of the death
of his four-year-old son, Allen
struck by the Hultbcre automobile
last May 2. A jury having been Sc
lectcd yesterday the taking of tess
tmony began early today.
The position Of the plaintiff was
explained to the jury by Attorney
Cameron, who said that the plaintiff
alleged negligence on the part of
the defendant and driver of the car,
her daughter Clara, was responsible
for the fatal injuries to the boy.
The defendant denies negligence.
The plaintiff would show, he said,
that the place where the boy was
struck-the block on Fifth street be-
tween the courthouse and the Will
school was regular playground for
children, and that the boy ran across
the street in answer to call to
come home. the accident happening
in the evening.
Claim No Horn Sounded
He said the plaintiff expected to
show no horn was sounded by the
Hultberg car, that the boy was Ii
feet from the curb when struck, that
Al, In re nor N
40 feet before the boy was struck,
that the front wheel pushed his body
seven or eight feet and the rear
wheel did likewise, that the wheels
were in straight line, and that if
the car had been veered but six
inches the boy would not have been
struck
Either, he said, the car was ira
yelling at an excessive rate of speed
or the brakes were not working.
The defendants answer, as filed by
her attorneys, William LANCER and
c. l.. Crum, was that the plaintiff.
father of Allen Kafer, was negligent
in allowing his child to play in the
street frequented by automobiles,
that the boy was negligent in run
ming out into the street, that the boy
ran into the car which was travelling
at moderate rate of speed under
perfect control. The defense holds
that Clara Hultberg. being almost II
years old, was perfectly capable OF
handling the car and was an exper-
fenced driver, that she sounded the
automobile horn and slowed up when
she saw the children playing, and
that all children had left the street
but that the Kafer boy ran back in
to the street. At the time of the ac--
cident Mrs. Hultberg and three
. daughters were in the car, which
was travelling south.
Witness Called
T. T.. McCurdy, former states at
torney, was the first witness called
by the plaintiff, and was asked with
respect to measurements made at the
time by himself, Chief of Police Mar
:inson and Deputy Sheriff Phelps.
lie said the distance from the
curb to the Car, distance from a pool
of blood where the boys body had
come to rest to the car, and other
measurements were made. The wheel
tracks, he said, were easily traced.
He said it was possible to tell where
the wheels stopped rolling after the
brakes were put on.
lie said he could not see any devia-
ton in the path of the wheels. He
said the skid line. after the brakes
were put on. started just north of
the pool Of blood and continued per-
haps 25 to 80 feet south of it. Not
having notes, he said, he was unable
TO state the distances accurately.
Other witnesses called during the
morning included DR.. J. o. Arnson,
and Deputy Sheriff Phelps.