The Coconino sun., 1926-12-03
BILL TOWLES VERY BADLY
HURT, ANOTHER MAN DEAD
CAR SMASH NEAR TUCSON
Injured Man Nay RecOUer; Had Been Living
Here Last FeU Months

spending several months IN Flag
staff was seriously injured and an
other man Jack Sheehan, 46, was
killed in an automobile accident
shortly after one o'clock Monday
morning nine miles south of Tucson
on the Nogales highway.
Towles is 26 years old and is son
of the ST. Paul multi-millionaire own
er of Log Cabin syrup. He had been
making his home here with Mr.. and
Mrs. p ]. Moran. He has many
friends here. He served several years
in the French army during the war
and was with the Foreign Legion in
many engagements.
Towles accompanied some Flag
staff friends, including Ernest Yost,
to the south part of the state last
week, arriving in Tucson last Fri
day.
According to the report of Deputy
Sheriff White of Tucson, who made a
careful investigation of the accident,
Sheehan was driving the car, which
belonged to the Bower Motor COM
pany, at speed estimated to be 80
miles an hour. He apparently had
failed to see compound curve and
when he saw that he would be un-
able to make the curve at the high
rate of speed he was travelling, ap-
piled the brakes with such force that
they locked.
The car skidded off the left side
of the road continuing south in
shallow ditch for about ESQ feet. 1t
then lurched over to the right side
of the road and into a ditch where
it sideswiped telephone pole, break
ing it off at the ground The impact
caused the car to lurch over at a
45 degree angle, throwing Towles
and Sheehan in a heap on the
ground. The car righted itself and
continued on about 20 feet where it
turned over and stopped. Deep tracks
and burnt rubber marks told the
officers plainly the story of the acci-
dent.
Low hanging wires across the road
and the bright beam of a headlight
the Aonly unbroken part of the car
caused two Tucson merchants to
stop to investigate as they were re-
turning from Nogales. Both men,
fearing an attempted holdup, were
cautious when they approached the
scene. But upon hearing means of
the injured men Immediately inves-
tigated. They found Towles lying
upon the ground about so feet from
the car and Sheehan on top of him.
Both men were rushed to the St.
Mary's hospital, Tucson. Upon ar
rival there, Sheehan was dead from
a broken neck and leg. Towles was
unconscious and examination by
DIR. E. ]. Gotthelf revealed frac-
tured spine and all ribs broken.
Reports from Tucson are that
Towles has a good chance to live.
Towles father, at the Biltmore no.
tel in Los Angeles was given full de-
tails of the accident by wire and left
Immediately for his sons bedsire.
Towles obtained the car Sunday
afternoon to demonstrate to pros
pective purchaser. 1t was straight
eight Packard. Early in the evening
Towles met Savage and told him he
had put the car in the Davis garage.
Savage told him to leave it there and
he would get it in the morning.
At the Davis garage it is said,
the men brought the car in at 1880
D. m. and an hour later reappeared
and took it out.
DR.. Gotthelf told the officers that
he detected no sign of liquor on ell
ther of the men and John Reilly of
the Reilly Undertaking company
substantiated the statement by de-
claring he found no evidence OF
LIQUOR in Sheehan's body.
Sheehan had only recently return
ed from Prescott where he had
served a six-month sentence in the
Yavapai county Jail on federal
charge of selling liuuor. He was to
have appeared in federal court at
Tucson December 6 to answer ano-
ther liquor charge.
First reports of the accident were
that it was Ernest Yost who had been
killed. In fact early press dispatches
were to that effect When Ernest
went down to breakfast at Tucson
hotel Monday morning ha was shown
a newspaper reporting his death.
Yost told the officers that before
Towles left Tucson carly Monday
morning he had been invited to go
with him to Nogales and he de-
clined and went to bed
Ray Babbitt got word from Tucson
a day or so ago that following a
consultation of doctors Il was decid-
ed Mr.. Towles would have to be OPP
Grated on. "A vertebrae is crushed and
one side is paralyzed. It was decided
that the operation could not be for a
few days. His back was badly injur-
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