The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1941-06-05
TWO MEN DIE AS
RESULT OF PLANE
CRASH SUNDAY
Ship Plunges Into Farmhouse of
Vernon Friend, Near SwantOn,
Endangering Lives of Four

Attempting to take off Sunday
morning after a forced landing Satur-
day evening, Ned Winfield Rogers, "a,
of Brentwood, was killed, and his
companion, Earl Thomas, of Mt.
Rainier, died fourteen hours later in
Memorial hospital Cumberland, as
the result of their airplane crashing
into the small one-story home of Yer
non Friend, on the Swanton-A ltamont
road nine miles east of Oakland.
Rogers died almost Immediately
after the crash, having suffered a
skull fracture and other injuries.
Thomas was taken to Memorial hos
pital in an unconscious condition
where he died at 11:07 Sunday
night, of head and internal injuries.
Miraculously escaping injury were
Vernon Friends daughter, Mrs. Nora
Emma Alexander, 10, who stood in
the doorway of the home with her
ten months old child, and Betty and
Evelyn Friend, who were eating
breakfast at the table in the room
right under where the plane came to
rest.
The home, recently constructed by
Mr.. Friend, and not yet entirely COM
pleted, was moved three feet on it's
post foundations.
,tn
from Indianapolis where they at
tended the automobile races and had
been forced down by fog Saturday
afternoon on the TIMBER Bray farm,
near Altamont on the Swanton high
way. They made the forced landing
without mishap, spent the night at
the Bray home and prepared to take
off at 8 a. m.
They TAXED across the field and
rose off the ground but the high
grass prevented the proper speed and
the plane failed to gain enough alti-
tude to clear a power line, according
to eye witnesses. Unable to clear the
wires the plane went under them,
then attempted to climb again.
Wing Hits Wire
| The effort might have been sue
cdssful but one of the wings hit a
feeder line running to the bungalow
of Friend, and the plane veered
around and crashed into the upper
part of the Friend house. There the
plane hung, it's nose buried in the
house and the fuselage pointing sky
ward, one wing crushed. The nose of
the plane came to within about four
feet of the table where the two young
girls were eating. Friend, along with
Bray and other neighbors, had assist
ed the men in the take-off and was
watching from the field. The pilot APP
parently cut the motor off when he
saw he was going to crash, these
witnesses said, and there was no fire.
Rogers was alive when rescuers
climbed ladder to extricate him and
Thomas from the wreckage but died
few minutes after he was brought to
the ground. His body was taken to the
Bolden funeral home here, and
Thomas was taken to Cumberland ac-
companied by DR.. E. l. Baumgartner,
county medical examiner for this
county.
Investigating the accident were
Neil C. Fraley, States Attorney, and
Corporal Thomas Currie of the State
police. The plane was owned by four
people of Washington and vicinity, R.
Paul Weesner, Dorothy Waterloo, Or
vile j. Baldwin and Joseph S. Loba-
sack of the Federal Flying Club.
Weesner was here Monday and
supervised the job of taking the plane
from the house but he was prevented
from hauling it away by Mr., Friend,
who asked some assurance that dam
ages to his home would be paid.
A. T. Matthews, Oakland attorney,
said Weesner told him the plane was
insured for $1,000 but that the
wreckage did not have much salvage
value. Weesner returned to his home
apparently to make some financial ar
rangements in regard to making good
the damage done.