Smyrna times., 1933-06-14

town.
McFatten-Near Blackbird, June
Sth, Anna M, wife of Dennis Nc
Fatten, aged SO years.
Staats-Near Collins Beach, on
June 10th, Elisha, son of David
Stats, aged 10 years and 3 months.
Surgen-In this town, June 18th,
at 2.15 o'clock p. m. William Sur
gen, aged 81 years.
Wiltshire 18th, at Hoffecker's
mill, Howard H, son of Aaron and
Sallie Willis, aged months.
EDUCATIONAL MEETING
Friday, June 22nd, a meeting will
be held in the Town Hall in the
interest of our Public School sYs-
TEN. 1t is understood that the Su-
perintendent of Schools proposes
during the year to hold such meet
ings in all portions of the State.
The first of the series will be held
here. Among the speakers will be
Prof. t. N. Williams, Prof. j. H.
Groves, Prof. H. c. Carpenter, Mr.
Herman Roe and Mr.. L. Irving
Handy. The President of our
Board of Education, Mr.. w. M.
Bell will preside. School affairs
are occupying a large place in the
public eye at the present time and
this with the reputation of Prof.
Williams and others will probably
bring together at the proposed
meeting the most influential and
thoughtful of our citizens.
THREE TIMES STRUCK BY
LIGHTNING is an old saying
that lightning will not strike
twice in the same place" but the
saying is no more a verify than
many other similar sayings that
have passed into proverbs, as a
recent incident will illustrate. On
Thursday evening last during the
thunder storm that passed over
this section, tree that stood near
one end of the house on the farm
of John c. Raymond, near Leipsic,
occupied by his son, John, was
struck by lightning and shivered.
The next descending bolt struck a
tree at the other end of the house
and the third in quick succession
struck the house itself knocking
hole in it and severely stunning a
woman and child. Tt was a severe
bombardment from the heavenly
artillery, but fortunate in its lucky
escape from fire and death.
TWO BOYS DROWNED - On
Sunday afternoon an hour or two
before night several boys of the
neighborhood went down to Collins
Beach for the purpose Of a bath
but resulted in the death of two
Of them and causing shock to the
whole neighborhood. One of the
boys was the son of David Stats,
aged ten years, and the other a
colored boy nine years old, son of
Isaac Johnson. The place where
they were drowned was pond
about so yards from the beach.
Two other boys were in and would
have been drowned also but for the
fifth one who remained on shore
and succeeded in rescuing these
two, one with his hand and the
other with a pole. The two that
drowned he says never rose to the
surface after they stepped into the
unexpected deep place. The COM
molten was heard at the residence
of Frank Collins three or four hun
dred yards distant and he and Will
liam E. Riggs, Sr., of this town,
hastened Immediately to the res
cue. Mr.. Collins jumped in sink
ing to his chin, the first one he got
hold of being the colored boy whom
he handed to Mr.. Riggs, but life
was quite extinct. Young Stats
breathed after he was handed
ashore, but it was the gasp of
death, for all efforts, which were
kept up for fifteen or twenty min
utes, failed to restore the life cur
rent. The parents were soon on
the spot and the manifestations of
grief were touching. They were
good boys, and young Stats was
getting to be useful to his father
on the farm. The accident would
not have occurred, it is said, if the
broken bank had not cut them off
from the beach. The funerals oc-
CURED yesterday.
CHILDREN'S DAY - Sunday
last, the day set apart throughout
the Methodist connection as "Chil-
dren's Day. was observed in all its
details in our town. The floral
decoration was very fine. The
master piece was a cross of roses,
mostly white, that arose from a
base of rocks and green in the pull
pit recess eight feet high. A col
lection of beautiful pot flowers
rested Immediately in front Of the
I pulpit while still in front of this
at the chancel rail was a large
I NUM- ~ IL Cf xyo rioa.e oo1orad roooes