Evening star., 1950-04-14

'uIHICVstHCoS
1t was Mr.. Miller'S theory that
the driver of the Army trailer
tractor had at first figured on
entering the Comus road as he
approached the intersection on a
down grade; then realizing his
mistake had continued bearing TO
the right. Normally the rear
wheels of trailer will describe
a shorter arc than the wheels
of the tractor pulling it. But in
this instance. according to his
theory, braking the tractor and
the trailer on the down grade
cause the trailer to jackknife-
to swing out to the left.
He produced photographs to
show that the tractor trailer.
huge affair 40 feet 10 inches
long and 7 feet 10 inches wide.
had been struck on its left side
about a foot forward of the left
rear wheel. His theory was that
Mr.. O'Hara had driven past the
headlights of the behemoth in the
normal way. only to crash against
the careening box almost 40 feet
beyond.
Driver Confused"
He put on a witness, 1t. Marion
Dayhoff of the Montgomery
County Police. who had questioned
the Army driver three hours after
the accident. 1t. Dayhoff said
the driver had told him he was
confused" as to the roads.
Mr.. Miller demonstrated his
theory that the left rear wheel of
the tractor trailer was on the left
side of the road by evidence that
there was a heavy dual-tire skid
mark, from to 6 feet long,
18 to "a inches to the left of the
center line of Route 240.
The collision knocked the rear
wheels off the trailer. and there
was a deep gouge mark on the left
side of the road, or in the south
bound lane. This, Mr.. Miller held,
was dug by the right rear spring
shackle of the de-wheeled trailer.
There were piles of dirt. broken
glass and other debris in the
southbound lane, he showed. That,
he said, indicated where the We
hicles had collided. There were
no marks, dirt. glass or debris, in
the northbound traffic lane. he
said.
The Army's tractor trailer was
begging driven north from Camp
Lee, Va, to Chambersburg, Pa.
with load of tires. The Govern
ment called the driver as a wit
ness, Pvt. Robert j. Coleman, l8,
colored. He said he had been driv-
ing since he was 7. He insisted his
tractor and trailer at all times
were on the right hand side Of
the highway and denied he had
been confused about the roads.
Mr.. Miller limited his cross
to asking the soldier
If he had taken the special train
ing in driving tractor trailer COM
binations. called for by Army reg
ulations. He had not. The pas
senger. Corpl. Grover c. Smith,
also insisted the vehicle had al
ways been in the northbound lane.
Apparently the Photographic evil
dence caused the judge to think
otherwise.
Eddie Is in good health. One OF
his problems is that the stay in
the hospital made him too plump
but he is working that off in in
door play. He went back to school
last September in the Four Cor
ners School. where he is in the
third grade. He will have to be
treated for his eye injuries for
the next six years, the doctors es-
innate, but he does not have to
wear glasses.
Court Supervises Funds.
Some of the $4,000 award will
go toward medical expenses and
legal fees, but Eddie probably will
have a fund in excess of $4,000
invested for him under the super
vision Of the Orphans Court of
Montgomery County. He is for
tunate in this, for his benefits as
the survivor of a worker covered
by social security amount only to
1880 a month until he is ia
sum that would scarcely allow his
grandmother, a woman of limited
means. to quit her job and care
for him.
He is fortunate also in the fact
that his parents carried double
indemnity life insurance policies
totaling $1,000 each. Thus they left
him $4,000, plus their bank ac-
count of $1,000 and the lot they
hoped to build on which is worth
about 2,000-altogether an estate
of about $17,500.
Eddie's guardian is young for a
grandmother. She is At. She is
determined that the money will be
used in part to put Eddie through
college and medical school.
They (his parents) always said
Eddie was going to be a DOCTOR"
she said, land since his long stay
in the hospital he is enthusiastic
about the idea"