The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1925-05-28
TWO BOYS NEAR
DEATH IN BLAST
Flying Stump Falls on Boys
Watching Work at
Lincoln Park.
RUSHED TO HOSPITAL
Boy Scouts Aid in Giving First
Aid to Injured Boys;
Have Serious Wounds.

Blasting stumps in Lincoln park,
which had been going on all through
the day there, nearly proved fatal for
Donald Fairfield, aged 10, and his
brother, Robert, aged IL, of 674 South
Pleasant street on Friday evening.
| The two boys are now at Kenosha
hospitat'in precarious conditions fol-
lowing an accident shortly after seven
| o'clock Friday evening when they
were struck by a piece of flying stump
which had just been uprooted follow
ing a blast on the west side of the
lagoon.
The exact nature of the accident is
| still a mystery, and an investigation
is being carried on to ascertain wheth-
err or not there is any blame to place
| for the accident. The work of blast
ing old stumps had been going on for
some time and toward evening small
crowd of people had gathered on the
east side of the lagoon watching the
men working with the explosives. The
two boys we're among this crowd and
at the time of the accident were
standing near an officer at the APP
! proach of the bridge near the pavilion.
According to eye-witnesses Of the
accident small pieces of wood had been
4 thrown into the air following each
| blast, but these as a rule fell in the
| immediate vicinity of the explosion.
| There had been no other accidents re-
! ported at any time during this work.
Following one blast, which seemed to
be unusually strong, some members of
the crowd began to scatter. In their
confusion the two boys hesitated and
were leaning on the fence when
| piece of stump estimated at three feet
long and weighing about twenty
pounds fell on the heads of the two
with such force as to throw them
! against a policeman standing immedi-
| ately in front of them. Robert, the
| older of the two, was struck first, the
object cutting a deep cash about four
inches long in his scalp-the wound
going clear to the bone He received
other injuries on the left side of his
head.
| Gets Hand Crushed.
Donald on Friday evening appeared
| to be injured the more seriously Of
the two. He received a deep cut j.
the forehead which penetrated to the
| skull; the bridge Of his nose was also
cut, and there were minor bruises on
the left cheek The boys left hand
was badly swollen and appeared this
morning as though it were crushed.
Donald will probably carry scars on
his face throughout his life. X-ray
pictures taken this morning showed
that the boys skulls were not frac-
tured, and according to physicians at
the hospital the two will recover, al
though both are exceedingly weak
from the loss of blood.
The accident gave several boys an
opportunity to show the value Of their
Boy Scout training in administering
first aid to the injured. Eagle Scout
Ted Piedot and Scouts Harold Van
denburg, Enrol Evans and Clinton
Zimmerman, all of Troop 5, and Will
liam Augustine were standing in the
crowd nearby at the time OF the ac-
cident. They rushed backward with
the crowd as the last stump was blown
and Piedot saw the wood strike the
two boys on the head
Stops Flow of Blood.
Piedot realized at once that the
boys were seriously injured and he
called his pals to go with him to see
if they could be Of any assistance.
Zimmerman rushed to the pavilion and
called the police ambulance. Piedot
picked up the younger of the two and
ordered the others to carry the older
boy to the pavilion. Here the Scouts
gave what aid they could until the.
police ambulance arrived. Piedot nos
ticed that blood was gushing from a
bad wound in the neck of Donald and
he applied pressure below the wound
in order to stop the flow Of blood.
Both boys were picked up unconsci-
Gus. The Scouts accompanied the in
jured boys in the ambulance to the
hospital. In the ambulance Robert
regained his senses and his first ques-
ton to Piedot was How big is the
cut on my head?" The Scout an
swered that it was only a slight
wound. Then Robert said his hand
hurried him, and he picked it up to
look at it. AS he saw the crushed
and bloody fingers, shudder went
through his little frame, and after
pause he smiled and said, Look at
that!" He also asked about his
brother, and was told that he was all
right
Father Killed Last Year.
1t is recalled that Donald Fairfield,
father of the two boys. was killed in
an explosion in a plant at Alton, Ill,
last year. The two boys have been
living with their mother, Mrs. Olga
Fairfield, at their home on Pleasant
street.