Show people hurt themselves the hard way during most unusual accidents of 1940 by PAUL JONES released Rele by western newspaper enlon CHICAGO each year a surprising number of people discover new and novel ways of getting hurt and the results ore are positively startling A man in chicago for example is bitten by his own false teeth A steel executive in colorado rides out of his office on the cowcatcher of a locomotive some of these odd accidents are amusing others are tragic put them all together and you find that fate the master showman again has produced a literal hit parade of the year the oddities of 1940 so without further ado on with the show chief clerk john donnelly of the cleveland municipal court is quite a r reader eader and frequently has his nose in a book but one march day this year he had his nose in book ends and it comfortable mr donnelly was moving several books in book ends from one table to another the books began to slip and he tried to push them back between the book ends with his chin but the books fell feh anyway and the book ends came plopping together with mr donnellys donnellyy Don nellys nose between them it was well red louis durdy of pana ill can understand der stand now why the man in the bible had so much trouble finding a good samaritan smelling smoke one november afternoon mr durdy dashed into a nearby hotel room and rescued a sleeping guest from a flaming mattress firemen came seized the burning bedding and tossed it out the window it landed on an automobile parked outside the hotel yes it was mr burdys auto the auto was burned up and so was mr durdy plenty I 1 joseph callahan of chicago always a had taken good care of his false teeth and so far as he knew they had no reason to dislike him but one day as he dozed he slipped off his chair his teeth fell out and landed tooth side up on the floor mr callahans callahand Call ahans forehead struck them end and they gave him a vicious bite mr jay J martin of pueblo colo is ready to believe that almost anything can happen in the steel business mr martin a steel company executive was seated at his desk one day intending to stay there a while when the next thing he knew what was he doing but riding out of his office on the cowcatcher of a full fledged locomotive 1 at the end of his journey which took look him through a partition or so mr martin understandably travel stained learned that what had bad happened was that the loo locomotive 1 motive had jumped the track ju just sc outside his office and had come on in through the wall mr martin take the same train back drinks brake fluid bill hilterbrand of springfield mo knows now just how a hydraulic brake feels he was drinking a bottle of soda pop in a filling station and discussing politics with a friend engrossed he picked up a bottle and took a big swig it the right bottle and it even pop it was brake fluid the results serious however for T it L I 1 es 14 only a bumper guard prevented lake michigan after it skidded out driver escaped with a ducking some som of 1910 1940 described in the story below as you might expect mr hilterbrand was able to stop quickly ever so often it seems some poor soul has to have his pants jerked off 03 in public by an automobile this years victim of fates perennial gag was mr giovannia evangelisti Evange liati of rochester N Y mr E was waiting believe it or not for a street car in the crowded downtown district when the door handle of a passing automobile caught the evangelisti Evange liati trousers and neatly swooshed swoosh ed them oft off the apologetic driver rushed mr E home for replacements calf lassoes lassoer man blan when a calf lassoes lassoer a man noose I 1 the man edward acree was walking along a road near brazil ind when the man puncher calf broke 1 loose 0 ose from its tethering stake and dashed across the highway its chain swinging mr acree complains that the next thing he knew the calf had lassoed him with the chain bob forde strolling along in marksville marysville Marys ville vWe calif wondered why the two men approaching him were walking so far apart it neighborly mr forde decided to go between them by the time he discovered they were carrying a big sheet of window glass it was too late mr forde describes the experience peri ence as baneful pane ful walter beu bell a rural mail carrier of harlan iowa has heard of people fighting buzz saws and he believes he can appreciate what they are up against on a warm day this summer mr bell plugged a six volt fan into an volt socket the fan the sissy take it and leaped whirring toward mr bell like an airplane he raised his arm to stop it result 35 stitches inflates arm elmer mahnke is one of the people who fear quick inflation this perhaps is understandable in view of an experience mr mahnke had this year mr malinke mahnke is a filling station man at racine wis and part of his job of course is to blow up footballs and basket basketballs baUs tor for small this automobile from plunging into of t control on an icy pavement the of the many other freak accidents are illustrated above boys in the neighborhood on the occasion to which we refer the air needle not only pierced a basketball but mr Ma mahnker Mahn linkes kes arm the first thing he knew his arm was bigger than popeyed Pop eyes never have more things happened to the kaczynski family of the pittsburgh than on a cold day last winter first six year old frank kaczynski grabbed a charged wire and let go then his brother walter eight grabbed frank and he let go then sister anna 17 heard about it and dashed for the scene just in time to see her sister frances 14 get struck by a car As anna ran to help frances a big dog ran up and bit anna the commotion attracted brother john kaczynski ICa czynski 24 john chased the dog away and a few minutes later the began pouring into the hospital frank and walter were treated for bums frances for cuts and bruises and anna for dog bite the police sergeant who wrote it all up for the records was treated for writers cramp and fervently hopes that if it all ever happens again it will happen to smiths in chicago a dignified old gentleman was standing on a safety island waiting for a street car and having no intention whatsoever of taking a taxicab but he did for as a passing taxi swerved sharply to miss another car the back door flew open it scooped up the nice old gentleman and deposited him gently on the floor of the cab all set for a ride As ralph lyman of clarinda iowa hurried to answer the phone he slipped and fell but crawled painfully on to hear a voice say this is doctor burnett can you come right over and look at my furnace its broken better come right over and look at my leg first replied lyman its broken too and it wast wasl mr and mrs charles W mann of ILi indianapolis anapolis expecting anyone to drop in on them that day last winter but 22 students of indiana university did in a buss I 1 mr mann was that surprised he thought it was an earthquake shaking the house but mrs mann so sure and when she investigated she found a big bus poking its nose through the basement wall the bus was taking the students back to school from a vacation and the driver had swerved to miss an auto herbert greenwald of berwyn ill is a meticulous golfer and always tries to have his eye on the ball but one day in october mr greenwald switched the formula and had the ball on his eye swinging lustily in the rough mr greenwald struck the ball squarely it hit a nearby stone concealed in the grass ricochet ted straight upward and broke mr Greenwal greenwaldt ds 9 glasses lasses into bits the unhappy golfer not only was cut about the face but he lost a stroke and it was match play I 1 mrs olen deatherage of springfield ill knew that some women drivers can make an automobile do some mighty funny things but she n never ever dreamed she could run over herself until she did it her car spun around after a collision throwing her out the right hand door her body hit the gear lever and shoved the gear from low to reverse As she fell from the car it backed up over her yes in these days anything can happen and does many a pedestrian has been struck by a hit and run driver but to mrs anna martinelli of johnston R I 1 goes the distinction of being the victim of a hit and run dog which itself was the victim of a hit and run driver the driver hit the dog and fled the dog hit mrs martinelli and fled mrs martinelli did not flee she had been knocked unconscious by the dog her injuries were not serious these are but a smattering of the many freak accidents of 1940 recorded in the files of the national safety council in chicago |