What Stocktonites Were Doing 94 Years Ago
One of the most unfortunate automobile accidents to be reported in years in western Kansas occurred last Thursday evening on Wilcox Creek, about six miles north of Hunter, when three young men, employees of the Kansas Power Company, plunged over a 40-foot embankment into the creek bed as they were returning toward Downs from a fair at Sylvan Grove. Two of the young men, Lewis Churchill, son of Sheriff Churchill of Phillips County, and Virgil Eldred, son of Mrs. Anna Eldred of Philipsburg, were apparently killed instantly. At the same time, their companion, J. S. Limbocker of Downs, suffered injuries that will probably prove fatal. He was pinned beneath the overturned car, pressed against the bodies of his dead companions, where he lay until Saturday forenoon when the wreck was discovered. A son of Ben Leach of Hunter met with an accident at the embankment Friday night. Still, he did not discover the bodies and the injured youth until Saturday morning when he returned for his motorcar, which he had abandoned the previous night. The wrecked vehicle was not in a direct line of vision from the highway. No explanation of the cause of the accident has been published other than the fact that it occurred on a very dangerous curve on the road that was probably strange to the young men.
This account is from the Hays Daily News of the high adventure in a stolen airplane and stolen cars with Mexico for its goal, which ended in Hays for Robert Staab, a 15-year-old Hays youth when he confessed to A. P. Brungardt, sheriff of Ellis County, and Ernest Malone, county attorney. He and J. R. Purdom, a 15-year-old Hays airplane pilot, caused a lot of excitement in Hays, Ness City, Great Bend, and Larned by leaving in those cities as they went through in a non-stop cross-country flight, a series of bereft car owners, to say nothing of the owner of the missing airplane. Staab’s confession admitted to theft of four cars during the weekend’s jaunt. He was arrested by John J. Roth, with Purdom still at large. The goal of the trip of the two Hays boys was Mexico. Staab told authorities they started their journey on Saturday night when they took a Ford sedan belonging to a Schoenchen man and drove to Great Bend. They drove near the airport where, after the car became mired in mud, they left it and walked to the hangar, which Staab said was unlocked. They found keys to the airport filling station, and after rolling a plane from the hangar, the boys refueled it and slept in the hangar to await daylight before taking off to Mexico. At dawn, they took off with Purdom piloting. As there was no compass in the plane, the youthful runaways lost their way, and by 11:00 o’clock on Sunday morning, a valve in the motor blew out, so there was nothing to do but make a forced landing. Purdom brought the plane down in great shape, landing not far from Ness City. The two found a Model T Ford mired in mud on the highway near town. They managed to drive it out with Staab at the wheel as they continued their journey until they came across an Oldsmobile car also mired down. With the aid of a rope and the Ford, they succeeded in pulling it out and continued on their way to Larned. At Larned, they left the Oldsmobile at the edge of town and walked in to procure food and drink. They picked up a Ford Coach from in front of a residence and drove to Norton, knowing there was an airport there, and they were still searching for a plane. The hangar at Norton was locked, so they drove to Oakley, where they could find no planes. Tuesday morning, the youths returned to Hays and bummed around until the afternoon when Purdom announced he was ready to continue their journey. The adventure had gone south by that time for Staab, so he decided he wanted to stay at home and refused to accompany Purdom. Staab’s arrest occurred that day. Purdom, who is the stepson of L. R. Keith of Hays, is the youth who recently ran away from home because his parents considered him too young to fly. When he returned home after that country- wide search by plane, his father consented to give him lessons, and he made his first solo flight shortly afterward. Staab is the son of Ambrose Staab of Hays.
While at work threshing on a farm northeast of Stockton on Wednesday afternoon, William Brokaw suffered injuries to his right foot. He was cranking the tractor, and whether he was using his foot on the crank or slipped and fell, his foot being thrown into the wheel, it is not known, but the member was caught across the instep, and the muscles cut and torn loose. He was brought to the office of Doctors Richmond and Brown for treatment.
Dale Carpenter, the young son of Mr. and Mrs. C. S. Carpenter, was again unfortunate in getting his right arm broken Tuesday afternoon while playing football. About two months ago, he broke the same arm on the same date in a fall from a trapeze at the home. Dale has begun to think that Tuesday is an unlucky day and says he is going to stay indoors at home hereafter on those days.
From The Woodston Argus…..Last Friday evening, while disarming the Woodston light line in preparation for being taken over by the Kansas Power Company, Omer Atkisson had a nasty fall. He had been taking the wires off some of the poles, and as he cut the wire on the pole just across the street from the Argus office, the pole broke off right at the ground before he could get his safety belt off…..Several people from the neighborhood attended the golf tournament at Phillipsburg last Sunday. C. H Breckenridge is the possessor of the wristwatch by winning second place in the championship round.
