Category Archives: Newspaper Clippings

Roller Coaster Accident at Summit Beach (Part 6)

FOURTH VICTIM OF COASTER CRASH IS DEAD, …INQUIRY INTO CAUSES IS CONTINUED

Leo Bricker, Discharged Employee, Is Held By Police Pending Outcome of Further Inquiry Into Pleasure Park Accident

EVIDENCE IS ALL CIRCUMSTANTIAL

Inspection of Coaster Proves That No Mechanical Defect Was Responsible For Accident That Carried Four People To Death

With a chain of circumstantial evidence seemingly pointing to the possibility that Leo Bricker, a discharged employee of the Marathon Amusement company, operating under the general managership of J. M. Kaster; also general manager of the “Over the Top” concession at Summit Beach, may have placed on the track of the coaster ascent a block of wood that derailed the first car of a coaster train Sunday evening, thereby sending the train off the incline and down a 40 foot plunge and causing the death of four persons, police are today holding Bricker pending further investigation.

Bricker stoutly maintains his innocence and an ability to prove that subsequent to the accident he was at his post at “The Outburst,” a concession adjoining “Over the Top.”

Police authorities are not at all certain that their evidence against Bricker is sufficiently strong to hold him.

In the meantime Prosecutor Roetzel, city police and the officials of the concession are continuing their inquiry.

Persons connected with the affair assert that Coroner Metzger, who under the law is authorized to go to the very bottom of the accident, has not yet visited the scene.

Clyde Keen, 549 Bell street, one of the victims listed Monday as critically injured, died Tuesday morning at the City hospital from a fractured skull received when the coaster train took its fatal plunge.

Other developments in the case are:

Practical certainty that the coaster train was derailed by a block of wood placed on the left tracks of the first ascent of the coaster.

Strong evidence that the block of wood was placed on the track with a view of causing trouble, but with no intention of causing any such tragedy as resulted.

Proof positive that the accident was not caused by the breaking of a wheel on the first car, or any other mechanical defect.

Offer of a reward of $1,000 for the arrest and conviction of the party guilty of causing the disaster.

“Fourth Victim of Coaster Crash is Dead…,” Akron Beacon Journal, 9 July 1918, p. 1, col. 1.

A very special “thank you” is in order for the Special Collections Department of the Akron-Summit County Public Library. I emailed my request for more information regarding the roller coaster accident on Saturday and received the results in less than 24 hours. Since I received several days worth of information, I will be breaking the story down into smaller chunks for the rest of this week.

Roller Coaster Accident at Summit Beach (Part 5)

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Hardy Tells Story

Hardy regards his fortunate escape to the fact that he leaped from the first car as it neared the ground in the terrific descent. His version of how the crash came follows:

I had been out to the park with Higgins and he urged that we make a trip ‘over the top’ before going home. There were four cars in the string we entered. We took the rear seat in the first car. Each car has four seats, thus accommodating eight persons all told. As we passed from the loading platform and faced the incline the cable that pulls the cars up gripped all right. There was nothing to indicate anything was wrong until we were quite a distance up. Then our car began to start going sideways – a sort of skidding stunt. We saw it meant a bad accident and shouted below for the cable to be stopped. Others in the cars that followed shouted as well, but it was of no use. On and on we went and then over the side. I thought it was all off for any of us. That more were not killed seems a miracle to me. I owe my escape to the fact I leaped from the car as it neared the ground.”

Officials of the Akron Scenic Railway Corporation declared Monday that the accident was not due to a broken wheel or any defect in the construction of the cars. They are still conducting a probe as to the cause of the first car skidding. The police report states that the four cars were fifty feet above the ground when they broke through the runway and fell to earth. Engine company No. 6 of the fire department was summoned to the park and assisted materially in clearing away the debris and aiding the injured.

Frank, King, 373 Pearl st., was dead when taken from the debris. General Bailey of Tarriff, W. Va., was still alive when rescuers dragged him forth. He died, however, while being taken to the People’s hospital.

Mrs. Van Sickle, the third victim to succumb, came to Akron but a week ago from Indianapolis, where her husband was interested in the automobile business. Mr. Van Sickle planned to locate here permanently.

“We had been planning great things,” said Mr. Van Sickle, in speaking of the loss he has sustained. Mr. Kurth invited us to take a ride out to the park in his car and we accepted, taking our six-year-old daughter, Charlotte, with us. It’s pretty tough to lose the best friend a fellow ever had. My wife’s parents reside at 415 S. Grace st., Indianapolis and her body will be sent there immediately. While we lived in that city we were located at 4915 E. New York st.”

“Roller Coaster Accident At Summit Beach Sends Three to Death, With Others Doomed,” Akron Beacon Journal, 8 July 1918, p. 13, col. 2.

Roller Coaster Accident at Summit Beach (Part 4)

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Story of the Crash

Mrs. Kurth was conscious all the way to the People’s Hospital and gave her details of what had transpired to her husband, who accompanied her in the ambulance. She said:

We saw that something terrible was going up the incline the car began to wobble and that the cars ahead of us were wobbling even more. Then from the first car came shouts calling for the machinery to be stopped. We saw that somehing [sic] terrible was about to happen and added our own cries to the others, but it brought no result. The next thing we knew we had crashed through the side of the runway at a point far up in the air and were falling in a terrible mixup of people and cars. That’s all I remember until I felt some one drag me out from under a stack of timber and found it was you.” (meaning Mr. Kurth.)

It has been learned that the shouts of warning urging that the [illegible] be stopped came from Harvey Higgins of 814 Yale st., and Lieut. Lester Hardy of the Goodrich fire department, who occupied seats in the first car. Following the accident, Higgins was found wandering in a dazed condition about the park and was removed to the hospital. Lieut. Hardy was only slightly injured, one leg showing bruises.

“Roller Coaster Accident At Summit Beach Sends Three to Death, With Others Doomed,” Akron Beacon Journal, 8 July 1918, p. 13, col. 2.

Roller Coaster Accident at Summit Beach (Part 3)

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BLOCK OF WOOD PLACED ON TRACK OF ROLLER COASTER
(continued from Page One)

wreckage was gone over and victims drawn forth.

Mrs. Floyd W. Van Sickle, of 70 Cherry st., was one of the first to be removed from the debris. She was alive and was taken to one of the booths on the ground where she was joined by her husband, who had not made the trip. Her death followed as she was being rushed to the City Hospital.

Another victim of the crash, Mrs. Agnes Kurth, was a friend of Mrs. Sickle and had accompanied her on the flight that ended so disastrously. Mrs. Kurth sustaining a broken leg and arm and sprained back. The Van Sickle and Kurth families had gone to the park together in Mr. Kurth’s automobile. While Kurth and Van Sickle made a trip around, their wives had seen to the comfort of little six year old Charlotte Van Sickle, who was too timid to accompany the men. Her timidity may have saved her life later for when she still refused to go her father and his friend cared for her while their wives entered the cars and were borne aloft.

“Roller Coaster Accident At Summit Beach Sends Three to Death, With Others Doomed,” Akron Beacon Journal, 8 July 1918, p. 13, col. 2.

Roller Coaster Accident at Summit Beach (Part 2)

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State Inspector Frank Christian and City Building Inspector Lehr E. Welker conducted a joint probe Monday morning as to the cause of the disaster. The result of their findings shows that the first car of the train left the track close to the base of the incline, but continued to be hauled aloft until it was bowled over at the very top and crashed to the ground, taking the other cars along with it. Inspector Walker said:

“There are marks on the runway from almost the base up to show that the theory that the first car went off the track is the correct one. These marks clearly indicate that the train had just rounded the curve, coming from the loading platform and had begun the ascent, made through the operation of a hoist, when the first car was derailed. It also accounts for the claim made by occupants of the frist [sic] car that they noticed it began going sideways, or as one put it, ‘skidded.’

“The marks run along the incline from a point near the base to the top, and are very distinct. There are wheel devices calculated to prevent derailment, and the cars were thus equipped, but I firmly believe, the first care went off the rails nevertheless, as is clearly shown by the marks on the runway where it was dragged along. My department is only responsible for the construction work. We would not be responsible for any mechanical defect.”

Small Crowd Present

The cool weather, with the smallest Sunday night attendance since the park opened, probably prevented additional casualties as the cars have a capacity of eight people each, or 32, to the train of four cars. The train was just half full when the accident occurred, which was the heaviest load carried all evening.

The Akron Scenic Railway Co. is the owner of the coaster, leasing the ground from the Summit Beach Park Co. This company and the Marathon Amusement Co. operating the “Dixie Flyer” are both independent companies, and in each Attorney Edward Sheck is president and J. M. Caster builder and superintendent, having

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their office and business separate from the park company.

Sheck recently enlisted in the ordinance department of the U. S. army, Attorney Floyd Rees, 1^st-2^nd National building, acting in his place in the scenic railway and Marathon companies.

Baby Escapes

So far as can be learned Sunday night’s ride to death embraced a party of fifteen including an infant, the latter the little daughter of Mrs. Dorothy Roach of Zanesville. Mrs. Roach held the child in her arms and all through the ordeal of the terrific drop, the babe escaping without a scratch, while the mother sustained a broken leg.

Meager reports so far made by the police and the scenic railway officials along with stories told by survivors, agree that the string of cars had passed about fifty feet up the first incline after departing from the loading platforms, when something went wrong, causing the first car to skid, finally leave the track altogether and plunge through the side of the runway, carrying the three other cars of the string along with it. Sightseers in the park at the time the accident occurred, even before the crash came, had been made aware that something was amiss by the terrified shouts coming from aloft calling for the machinery to be stopped. How the machinery is controlled, who directed its operation Sunday night and just why it was that no response was given the clamor to stop has not been brought out as yet. Certain it is, however that despite the cries of terror that came from the cars they were borne along by the lifting cable and then hurled into space.

The crash through the side of the runway, and the rending of timbers could not deaden the shrieks of those occupying the cars as they plunged to earth. Scenes of the greatest excitement and confusion followed. Hundreds rushed to where the debris of the wrecked cars lay and among these were relatives who had taken the fatal trip. While calls were sent in for surgeons and ambulances, the

(Continued on Page Thirteen)

“Roller Coaster Accident At Summit Beach Sends Three to Death, With Others Doomed,” Akron Beacon Journal, 8 July 1918, p. 1, col. 7-8.

Roller Coaster Accident at Summit Beach (Part 1)

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ROLLER COASTER ACCIDENT AT SUMMIT BEACH SENDS THREE TO DEATH, WITH OTHERS DOOMED

Four Cars Being Drawn Up First Incline of “Over the Top” Leave Tracks and Plunge 50 Feet Down Carrying 15 Passengers With Them

THOROUGH PROBE PROMISED

Police and Fireman Aid In Rescue Work and Send Injured to Both Hospitals, Where Three More Victims Are Reported In Critical Condition

Investigation of the cause of the accident on the Summit Beach roller coaster, “Over the Top,” which caused the death of three persons Sunday evening and may result in three more fatalities, is likely to center around the responsibility for the placing of a block of wood on the left track of the incline about 10 feet from its beginning. This piece of wood about 4x6x8 inches in size was run over by the front truck of the train, derailing the wheels, which then ran on the ties and running board of the incline up to the point where the train finally crashed over the side to the ground 40 feet below carrying its human freight to death and injury below. This piece of wood was found this morning, and bore marks of the wheel flanges.

That the accident will be probed from several directions is indicated today.

Prosecutor Roetzel said Monday morning that he would look in the criminal responsibility of the accident.

Inspectors of the city building department made a thorough inspection of the coaster today and their findings are not out of accord with the theory that the block of wood may have been the cause.

Directors of the operating company are in session this afternoon and will issue a statement later as to their investigation.

The casualty list of the accident follows:

THE DEAD

Mrs. Floyd W. Van Sickle, 27 years, 70 Cherry st.; taken from wreckage alive, but died on way to City hospital.
General Bailey, Tarriff, W. Va., who had been visiting his sister, Mrs. D. C. Casto, 1205 Grace av,
Frank King, 373 Pearl st.

FATALLY INJURED

Clyde Keen, address unknown; City hospital.
Dennis Glassford, 25, Lockport, N. Y.; Peoples hospital.

SERIOUSLY INJURED

Harvey Higgins, 19, 814 Yale st.; City hospital.
Otis Smith, 20 Bartges st.; City hospital.
Mark Sos, 269 Melville st.; City hospital.
Joseph Mackey, 403 S. Second st., Barberton; City hospital.
Mrs. Dorothy Roach, Zanesfille; City hospital.
Mrs. John Yuhas, 503 First st., Barberton; Peoples hospital.
Mrs. Agnes Kurth, 70 Cherry st.; broken leg and arm; Peoples hospital.

SLIGHTLY INJURED

Mrs. Helen Puhala, 481 S. Main st.; Peoples hospital.
Francis Cook, 20, 1249 Fifth av.; taken home.
Lester Hardy, official of Goodyear police department; leg broken.

(To Be Continued)

“Roller Coaster Accident At Summit Beach Sends Three to Death, With Others Doomed,” Akron Beacon Journal, 8 July 1918, p. 1, col. 7.

Surprise Shower

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Wedding Date Told At Surprise Shower

Wedding date of Fern Yagerlehner and Hoffman Hurley was revealed at a surprise miscellaneous shower given recently in honor of the bride-to-be by Mrs. Kenneth Tingley. The wedding will be on June 24.

A color scheme of pink of white was carried out in refreshments and wooden shoe favors which contained the wedding news. Tripoley was the diversion of the evening.

Among those present were: Mr. and Mrs. Clayton Green from Inglewood, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Doran of Wilmington, Rev. and Mrs. Carl Crain of Artesia, Miss Winifred Tyler, Messrs. And Mmes. Harold Crain, Carl Barr, Ralph Lovely, Phelps Freeman, Kenneth Tingley, and John Carmichael, Curtiss Bench, Denzil Carlisle, Cleve Elliott, and Mrs. Alice Yagerlehner, mother of the honoree, from Long Beach.

“Wedding Date Told at Surprise Shower,” Long Beach Independent (Long Beach, California), 7 April 1940, p. 14, col. 2; digital image, Newspaper Archive (http://newspaperarchive.com : accessed 28 December 2013).

Reed-Foster Wedding

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Saturday evening at 5 o’clock Rev. J. N. Field, of the First Baptist church, united in marriage Mrs. Lousetta Foster, of this city, to Harmon O. Reed, of Bluffton. The wedding occurred at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wilson Yagerlehner, cousins of the bride, in the presence of a small company of guests. Mr. and Mrs. Reed are spending a few days in the city before going to Bluffton to live.

“Reed-Foster,” Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel (Fort Wayne, Indiana), 21 October 1903, p. 6, col. 4; digital image, Newspaper Archive (http://newspaperarchive.com : accessed 23 December 2013).

Modern Maccabees

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MODERN MACCABEES HAVE A TENT HERE

New Organization Was Instituted in Fort Wayne Tuesday Evening,

T.H. Wilson, of Detroit, district deputy great commander, instituted a tent of the Knights of the Modern Maddabees in Fort Wayne on Tuesday evening, officered as follows:

Past Commander, H. Julian Slade; commander, Claude C. Hollenback; lieutenant commander, O. M. Lovalace; record keeper, Perry Thompson; finance keeper, O. E. Hadsell; physical, Dr. W. D. Calfin; chaplain, C. A. Byrt; sergeant, R. S. Pettit; master-at-arms, R. B. Bock; first M. of G., Wilson Yagerlehner; second M. of G., J. S. Gislett; sentinel, Emmet Cowell; picket, F. J. Ehrman.

Meetings are to be held on the first and third Tuesday evenings of each month above the gas office on Court street. This is the original pioneer order of Maccabees, incorporated in Michigan June 11, 1881, and has considerably over 100,00 members in its home state. It is a wholly distinct and separate order from the Supreme Tent Knights of the Maccabees, which began business two years later, and which has been established in this city for some time past.

“Modern Maccabees Have a Tent Here,” The Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel (Fort Wayne, Indiana), 29 July 1903, p. 14, col. 6; digital image, Newspaper Archive (http://newspaperarchive.com : accessed 23 December 2013).

Visiting Mother

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Mr. and Mrs. Wilson Yagerlehner will spend Sunday with Mr. Yagerlehner’s mother at Wabash.

“Local Lines,” The Fort Wayne Evening Sentinel (Fort Wayne, Indiana), 22 September 1900, p. 4, col. 3; digital image, Newspaper Archive (http://newspaperarchive.com : accessed 23 December 2013).