Harger - Elizabeth Joslin
Source: Saturday, Jan 9, 1932 Crawfordsville Journal-Review
En route to the funeral of a relative, a woman was killed and her husband critically injured when their automobile was struck by a freight train at the Grant Ave crossing of the Big 4 RR at 10:45 o´clock Saturday morning. The dead woman is Mrs. Elizabeth Joslin HARGER, 43, of Newport, Indiana. Her husband William A. Harger, 53, is in Culver Hospital in critical condition. Evidently failing to see the lights flashing or hear the bell of the warning signal ringing, Harger who was coming from the south drove directly in front of westbound freight Train No. 37. The Harger automobile an Essex sedan was carried from the crossing to the middle of the athletic field on the campus of the college, a distance of 300 yards. Another automobile, a Ford driven by Dayton Westfall of this city narrowly missed being struck by the same train according to witnesses. It was traveling south on Grant Avenue. At least 5 persons saw the accident. They were Harold McDaniel, local insurance agent; Jeanette Dotson, 600 South Grant Ave; Mr. Westfall, whose machine narrowly escaped being hit and Violet Cunningham and Robert Jolley, two children who were playing near the scene. All witnesses said the warning signals were working properly at the time of the accident and that Mr. Harger apparently was unaware that he was approaching a crossing.
McDaniel saw the Westfall car hit across the tract barely ahead of the Harger car and then a split second later saw the Harger machine struck almost in the middle by the freight engine. "I knew that someone must have been badly injured or killed and called to Newton Busenbark in the elevator where I had been on a business errand to call an ambulance. He had completed the call even before the train was brought to a stop. "Then I rushed down the tracks toward where the engine had finally stopped. I was the first person outside of the train crew to arrive at the scene. W hen I got there I found Mrs. Harger, apparently dead, lying over between her husband and the rear of his seat. Mr. Harger was conscious but helpless and it was necessary to wait for help before we could get him out of the machine. His wife could not be moved until he had been taken out. The ambulance arrived in less than five minutes and the victims of the wreck were hurried to the hospital. Mrs. Dotson told practically the same story of how the accident occurred. She lives in the house just south of the crossing on the east side of Grant Ave.
"I was sitting in the front room of my home, looking out of the front window, when I saw a machine from the north just get across the track in time to keep from being hit. A moment later a car from the south darted on the track directly in front of the train. The automobile seemed to be lifted up in the air and then was carried down the tracks I couldn´t see where the car was carried on account of the little hill along the tracks. I noticed that the lights on the warning signal were burning and that the bell was ringing.' SG Grimes of Browns Valley with his wife and son were also driving north only a short distance behind the Harger machine. G rimes, however, said that he did not see the actual crash. He said that his attention as well as that of his wife and son was on the Westfall car which was coming toward them. Westfall said that he stopped as quickly as possible after crossing the tracks and jumped out of his car in an attempt to signal to Harger but that by the time he got out of his machine the crash had occurred and the automobile was being carried down the tracks. Dr. AL Loop, county coroner announced that the death of Mrs. Harger was due to a broken neck. Death was believed to have been instantaneous.
Harger´s condition was such that a thorough examination could not be made immediately. It was believed, however, that he was suffering from internal injuries and that he had a fractured hip. He is to be given an x-ray examination Sunday morning to determine the exact extent of his injuries. It was found that Mr. and Mrs. Harger were en route to Pendleton, Indiana to attend the funeral of Mr. Harger´s aunt, Mrs. Agnes Harger, 88, whose death occurred Friday at the home of a daughter in North Vernon, Indiana. The aunt was the widow of David Harger, prominent resident of Pendleton until his death. The funeral for the aged woman is to be held at Pendleton Monday morning. Neighbors of the Hargers at Newport said that they had lived there 7 years. Mr. Harger is a traveling salesman. They left home about 9 a.m. Saturday intending to drive to Pendleton today. Mrs. Harger before her marriage was Miss Elizabeth Joslin, of Terre Haute. Her father, Albert Joslin of Terre Haute and two sisters, both live at Youngstown. Mr. and Mrs. Harger had no children.
Mr. Harger has two brothers and a sister, all of whom live near Noblesville. Bert Harger is one of the brothers but the names of the others could not be learned. The members of the train crew on the freight train were: William H. Anthony, conductor; George Maurer, engineer; Thomas Lindsey, fireman and HJ Siemer, head brakeman all live in Indianapolis. The engineer and fireman both said that the signals were working at the time of the accident. Members of the train crew asserted that due to the fact that the train was an exceptionally long one they did not dare apply the brakes too quickly for fear of buckling up the train in the middle and causing a serious wreck. The combined efforts of nearly a score of bystanders was necessary to extricate the wreckage of the machine form the front of the engine and tumble it over into the ditch. In spite of the fact that the automobile and every glass was broken out of it, neither of the two victims of the accident was cut. The body of Mrs. Harger was taken to the Shular & Grenard Funeral Home, Waynetown. Funeral arrangements had not bee made pending the arrival of relatives from Terre Haute & Noblesville.