1st Auto Wreck
Smethport, PA
June
26, 1910 100 Block Smethport read
newspaper accounts & still
more
TERRIBLE AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENT
ON MAIN ST. EARLY SUNDAY MORNING
Harold Backus, Killed; Harold McCarthy,
Badly Injured,
and Frank Purtle, Severely Bruise
RAN THE CAR INTO A TELEPHONE POLE
The Accident was Probably Due to An Explosion
or Blow-up of The Tire on Right Front Wheel
BACKUS LIVED THREE HOURS AFTER THE ACCIDENT
His Head Was Crushed Against Pole, His Right Shoulder Fractured and Left
Thumb Broken---McCarthy’s Lower Jaw Broken In Three Places and Face
Terribly Bruised and Lacerated---Purtle’s Injuries are slight—Funeral
of Harold Backus Held Yesterday Afternoon---The Car Belonged to Judge
J. W. Bouton,
and is a Total Wreck.
The
most terrible automobile accident that has ever occurred
in this country took place on Main street of this borough at about half
past three o’clock Sunday morning
when Harold Backus was killed, Harold McCarthy was most seriously injured
and Frank Purtle sustained some painful bruises, that kept him confined
to the house for several days.
These three young men were driving down Main Street in Judge Joseph W.
Bouton’s new Maxwell touring car, evidently at a fast rate of speed,
and when they reached Union street they failed to make the turn on Main
street and crashed into two telephones on the south side of the street,
almost directly in front of the May Kern’s building which was recently
occupied by Anderson and Carlson as a shoe store while their new building
was being erected.
Harold Backus, who was chauffeur for Judge Bouton and was driving the
car, was thrown head first against one of the poles, rendering him unconscious
and inflicting injuries to his head which caused his death at five minutes
after six o’clock that morning. Harold McCarthy, who was riding
on the front seat with him was thrown headlong on the pavement, sustaining
three distinct fractures of the lower jaw besides having his face terribly
lacerated and bruised. Frank Purtle, who was riding alone on the back
seat was thrown clear over the front of the car and landed on the brick
pavement fully fifteen feet beyond where the car stopped, and, strange
as it may seem, he escaped with only a bad shaking up and a bruised shoulder.
As soon as he could gather himself together he went to County Treasurer
Frank P. Isherwood’s door and upon getting a response asked him
to phone for medical aid saying that there had been an automobile accident
and two men had been injured. Mr. Isherwood had heard the crash and was
dressing when the alarm came to his door and he lost no time in arousing
several physicians.
Purtle then returned to the wreck and picked Backus, holding his head
in his lap, and when Mr. Isherwood came down they bathed his head with
water with the hopes of reviving him. Doctors Chadwick, Clark, Ostrander,
and Hamilton were soon on the scene and Backus was placed upon an improvised
stretcher and carried to his home four blocks up the street.
In the meantime McCarthy got up and, in a dazed condition, wandered down
to Water street and from there up a couple of blocks and back to Main
Street and into Purtle’s hotel where friends found him and assisted
him to his home in the living apartments of the county jail.
Purtle, after assistance had come to Backus, started a search for McCarthy
and upon learning that McCarthy had been assisted to his home, collapsed
and had to have assistance to his room.
As soon as Harold Backus was taken home, Dr. Evan O’Neil Kane of
Kane was telephoned for and he made a quick trip in his automobile. However
the young man was past all earthly aid and he passed to the Great Beyond
at five minutes after six, without regaining consciousness. The right
side of his head was badly crushed and there was a brain puncture probably
caused by a spike in the pole and the terrific force of impact when he
struck.
Harold McCarthy, after reaching his home, received the attention of physicians
and it was with much difficulty that his jaw was set owing to the lacerated
and swollen condition of his entire face and neck. And several times since
the broken members have become displaced, making it necessary to re-set
the fractures. At first it was feared that he might suffer conclusion
of the brain, but now that danger is practically over and his chances
for complete recovery are very good.
Just what was the cause which brought about this terrible tragedy has
been the subject of much discussion and many theories have been advanced.
Chauffeur Backus never regained consciousness to tell any story. McCarthy’s
injuries have prevented his making any statement, and Purtle, who was
in the rear seat, can only stated that it all happened so quick that he
does not know what did happen. He says he spoke to Backus about making
the turn but he was busy with the steering wheel and levers and in an
instant the crash came.
So it only remains to arrive at the best solution of the cause from the
conditions as found by others. The car, after striking the pole, turned
about three-fourths around so it looked as though it had been coming from
the other direction. The spokes of the right front wheel were entirely
broken out, a deep dent in the rim and the inner tube of this wheel was
split open about fifteen inches next to the rim. The spokes in the other
wheels were bent and cracked and the left rear tire was partially off.
The three tires were intact and filled with air. The body of the car was
badly damaged. Both lights and wind shield were entirely demolished. The
radiator and hood bent and twisted; the engines’ casings, crank
shaft and balance wheel broken; the front wheels doubled under the car;
control levers badly bent and broken, and the front set driven back pearly
to the rear seat on the right side. All a mute witness of a terrible wreck.
How It Happened
From what we can learn these three young men had been to the dance at
the Lyceum and after the dance was over went to the restaurant for a lunch.
They then decided to take a ride and the three went up to the garage and
got the car. They drove up onto Main street and then down Main Street
to Union Street when the accident happened. The car apparently sped right
along in a straight line until it hit the curb in front of Geo W. Brennan’s
store, swerved a little to the left and continued down until it hit the
two telephone poles which stand close together, about thirty-five feet
further on.
Now the question arises, why didn’t Backus, who had the reputation
of being a good, careful driver, make this turn, which is in no way considered
a difficult one. Some rushed to the conclusion that they were going at
a terrific rate of speed and merely did not attempt to make the turn until
it was too late, but others more familiar with automobiles and the troubles
that go with them have vastly different opinions.
One chauffeur, who has had a good deal of experience in handling cars
under various conditions, says that, after discussing the question with
other drivers and thoroughly examining the wreck, he is satisfied that
the disaster was caused by a blow-out of the right front tire, which he
says would make it almost impossible, if they were driving fast, to steer
the car to the left as was necessary to make this turn. He says that the
only thing that could have made such a dent as appeared in the rim of
the right front wheel would be its coming in rapid contact with the curb
with the tire flat. If the tire had been full of air when it struck the
curb this dent could not have been made no matter how fast the car might
have been going.
In support of this theory is the fact that Mrs. Charles McKean who resides
about one hundred feet away and was awake at the time heard a sharp report
like the firing of a revolver, which is the noise made by a blow-out,
and an instant later came the terrible crash of the collision with the
poles. Another condition which bears out this theory is the fact that
many of those who were first upon the scene noticed that for a distance
of fifty or sixty feet in the path of the car before it hit the curb,
that a narrow strip of the pavement was as clean from dust and dirt as
though it had been carefully swept, which is the case when a tire explodes
and the car continues with the tire flat. And to further uphold this theory
is the fact that where the car first struck the curb very noticeable portions
of sand were ground off its edge, a condition that would hardly occur
had it been the rubber tire instead of the iron rim that rubbed against
the curb.
Had Other Accidents.
Although generally considered a careful driver and a good man with a car
he has been unlucky. About two years ago while riding with his brother,
J. C. Backus, he got out to crank the latter’s car, and when he
started the engines the car made a quick forward start, knocking him down
and quite badly bruising him before his brother could stop the machine.
Again this spring he was painfully injured in a similar manner. He cranked
Judge Bouton’s car in the garage to find that the machinery was
in mesh on the slow speed and car started forward, catching him against
a work bench and squeezing him until his back and abdomen were seriously
bruised. And he was only released when his cries were heard by a neighboring
chauffeur who rushed to his aid.
Sketch of His Life
Harold E. Backus, youngest child of Major and Mrs. John C. Backus, was
born in this borough November 2, 1886. He has lived in this place all
his life with the exception of a short time he was in school in Pittsburgh
and in New York for a few months learning the automobile business. For
the past two seasons he has driven Judge Bouton’s car and was always
a careful, conservative driver.
He was an honored member of the Smethport Fire Department and had a host
of friends in that organization as well as among the young people of the
town with whom he was well-known.
He is survived by his mother, Mrs. Mary A. Backus; four brothers, Frank
S., J. Clayton, Frederick W. and Murl E., all of this borough, and two
sisters, Mrs. W. T. Seger of New York City, and Mrs. Arthur W. Cutler
of Onenta, N.Y., whom with a host of friends will deeply mourn his untimely
demise.
The funeral services were held at the house Wednesday afternoon at 2 o’clock,
Rev. J. Heber McCandless and Rev. W. E. VanDyke officiating. His remains
were laid at rest in the family plot in Rose Hill cemetery. The Smethport
Fire Department attended the funeral in a body. The floral tributes were
numerous and unusually beautiful.
McKean
County Democrat July 7, 1910 Hon. J. W. Bouton's Maxwell touring car, which was so badly wrecked on Main street one week ago last Sunday morning, was, on Wednesday, shipped back to the factory at Tarrytown, N.Y. Some parts of the machine, it is said, were irreparably damaged, especially the engine. |