I first reported the accident to Mr. Mulock at Des Moines about January 25, 1934, and asked what could be done about it. I have been inquiring at various departments since then, but have not had any authoritative information about this from any source. I talked this matter over with Congressman Thurston when he was in my town, and he said anything like this would take a special act from Congress. I carry my life insurance with the Modern Woodmen, and I have $5,000 with the Lincoln National; with the Massachusetts Protective Association. I had carried some accident insurance, but had dropped it 2 months before the accident. The witnesses as I recall were Mr. W. M. Clarke, the truck driver, Gilbert Porter, Gus Astroth, and Emery Free, and some others. I took affidavits from these men, and sent them to the Honorable Lloyd Thurston, at Washington. I have read the two foregoing pages of this report, and they are correct and true. This is correct and true. J. P. HARRIS. MYSTIC, IOWA, February 18, 1935. Report of A. H. Astroth, of Mystic, Iowa, made in connection with the accident of December 20, 1935, wherein J. P. Harris was injured when struck by a truck driven by Gilbert Porter, a Civil Works Administration workman on project No. 13, at Mystic, Iowa. This is I am 69 years old, married, and I live on Third Street in Mystic, Iowa. my permanent address. I am the justice of peace of Mystic, and an agent for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. I have lived in Mystic for the past 30 years, and I have known Harris ever since I came to Mystic. At the time of the accident I was standing on the northwest corner of Main and Second Streets in Mystic, Iowa. The accident happened around 4 p. m. or between 3 and 4. I had walked down the street on the west sidewalk of Second Street, and when I got to the corner Harris hollered to me from the southwest corner of the street. I stopped at the corner and was standing on the sidewalk, and Harris came across the street. I stepped down off the curbing into the street, and Harris came up to me. He stood close to me, and he and I started talking about insurance. We had been there talking about 10 or 15 minutes before the accident happened. He and I were both standing in the street, and our toes were just about against the curbing. We were facing the north or the Bradley's Bank building when the accident occurred. There is a telephone pole in the street (Main Street) about against the curbing, maybe 2 or 3 inches from the curbing. This pole is about a foot thick, and stands on Main Street just barely around the corner to the west. I was standing about a foot and a half west of this post, and Harris was between me and the post. While we were standing in the position mentioned above, a shale truck rounded the corner from the north. This truck was going 3 or 4 or maybe 5 miles an hour. It was driven by Hilbert Porter, and there was no signal given by him either by hand or horn. He drove from the north on Second Street, and turned to the west on Main Street. He turned sharply, as the truck was a long one of the dump type. The front wheels cleared the corner well, and the hind dual wheels came within about 6 inches of the telephone pole that I mentioned above. Then as the rear wheels passed the post, some part of the truck—I think it was the corner of the dump box-struck Harris, and threw him to the paving, and passed on by. I did not see the truck run over him, and I am not sure what part of the truck hit him, but as he was a big man some part of the truck caught him and threw him to the ground. The truck went on up the street. It went 40 or 50 feet, and some of the men yelled at the driver and he stopped. Harris was sitting up when I saw him, and some men came running up to him. Harris said, "He run over my leg." The men helped him up and carried him over to Bill Harris' shoe store across the street to the south. He saw that his left leg was broken before he was picked up, as he was holding it. I do not remember a thing about who the witnesses were. I remember that Harris was laying about 4 or 5 feet from the curbing on the north side of Main Street after he was hit, and about 5 feet from the corner of the sidewalk. The street is paved with brick, and at the time was dry. It was not raining or snowing or misting at the time of the accident. When I first saw this truck, it was halfway around the corner. I thought that being sort of behind the telephone pole, we were safe from traffic. I have read the two pages of this report, and they are correct and true. A. H. ASTROTH. MYSTIC, IOWA, February 16, 1935. Report of Gilbert Porter of Mystic, Iowa, made in connection with the automobile accident of December 20, 1933, at Mystic, Iowa, wherein J. P. Harris was injured when struck by a truck driven by Mr. Gilbert Porter. I am 54 years old, married, and I live at Mystic, Iowa, in the west part of town. This will be my permanent address, and I can always be located here or through Joe Dixon, who hires me occasionally to haul shale for him. Joe Dixon lives at Mystic. I started working for the Civil Works Administration on either the 19th or 20th day of December in 1933. I was hired through the Centerville Civil Works Administration's offices as a truck driver. I was assigned to haul shale on the streets of Mystic, Iowa. This project number was 13. My hours on this project were to be 30 hours a week. I started to work at 7:30 a. m. and quit at 4:30 p. m. We took an hour for lunch, and this was from 12 to 1 p. m. My salary on this job was to be 90 cents an hour, and my first pay check amounted to $27. Fifty cents of the hourly wage was to be for my driving, and 40 cents was to be for the hire of the truck. The truck I was using at the time of the accident was a 1933 Chevrolet dump truck, license number Iowa 4-413. This truck was licensed and registered in my name. The truck was bought and licensed the 1st day of May in 1933. The only insurance on the truck was fire and theft and collision carried by the General Motors Co. as the truck was bought through the Universal Car Co. of Centerville, Iowa. The General Motors refinanced the buying of the truck. My mother-in-law was paying for this truck, and it was used chiefly for hauling gravel and shale up to the time of the accident. My son had done most of the driving of the truck up to the date of the accident. There was no public liability on this truck. I had an Iowa operator's license, but no truck driver or chauffeur license. This accident happened, as I remember, at about 4 p. m. School had just let out, and I was using care, as the children were crossing the street at all angles. I had just finished dumping a load of shale on a street on the north side of town about a half mile from where the accident happened, and Bill Clark, my foreman was riding back to the shale pit with me. We were going to haul another load of shale to the streets after we got back to the pit. The streets were dry, and there was paving where the accident occurred. It was not raining, snowing, or misting, or dark when the accident occurred. I was driving the truck south on Second Street and where it intersects Main Street in the main part of town there is a small iron stop sign in the center of the street as the intersection is approached. This sign is just to the north of the intersection and north of where pedestrians cross the street. When I came to this sign, I came to a full stop north of this sign. I saw Mr. Harris come from the drug store which is on the southeast corner of this intersection. He walked directly "catty-corner" across the intersection. He walked about 10 feet of the northwest corner of the intersection. He was still in the street, and about 10 feet from the corner of the sidewalk. He looked at me as I put the car in low gear. When he saw me, he stepped about two steps toward the sidewalk and stopped again in the street on the paving. He turned so that he had his right side to me and was facing the northwest and started talking to Gus Estrow, who was standing on the edge of the sidewalk on the east side of the northwest corner of the street. I pulled the truck on into the intersection, and made a left turn and went up Main Street west. My front wheels passed Harris, and I thought I was well clear of him, and went right on around the corner. I had to cut rather close to get inside of a keep-to-the-right sign that was in the middle of the street on Main. This sign is a round iron affair about 4 or 5 inches high. I am always cautious and keep inside the iron signs. I was in low gear all the way around the corner, and was not going over 3 miles an hour. I did not know of any accident until I had gone around 90 feet up Main Street when I heard the fellows on the corner yelling. I stopped to see what they were hollering about. I got out after I stopped and saw Harris lying in the street about 4 feet from the corner of the sidewalk. He was down on the street, and men were helping him get up. They carried him over to his son's shoe store west of the grocery store on the southwest corner of the intersection. Harris told me that I had knocked him down and run over him. He said the dual wheel had caught him. I did not feel any jar or bump as I rounded the corner. I told him that I didn't know I hit him. Dr. Lavagh came and treated the injured, and I stayed around there a while, and my son who was near took the truck and went to the shale pit and hauled another load of shale. Clarke was the only person riding in my truck at the time of the accident. There is a cab on the truck, and a glass windshield. My view was not obstructed at any time as I rounded the corner. I did not blow the horn of the truck, or give a left-turn signal at that corner. Everyone in town knew that the route I was taking was the regular traveled route of the Civil Works Administration. Harris stepped as though he was getting out of my way the first time, but I don't know what he did after the cab of the truck went by him. I have read and signed the two foregoing pages of this report, and they are correct and true. This is correct and true. GILBERT PORTER. MYSTIC, IOWA, February 18, 1935. Report of William J. Clark, made in connection with the accident wherein Report J. P. Harris, of Mystic, Iowa, received a fractured leg when struck by a truck driven by Gilbert Porter, a Civil Works Administration workman, on December 20, 1933. I am 74 years old, married, and I live in Mystic, Iowa. I have lived here 41 years. I have known Harris for that length of time. I am not employed at present. At the time of the accident I was employed by the Civil Works Administration as foreman for the street project No. 13 at Mystic, Iowa. The purpose of this project was to cover the streets of Mystic with shale. I do not remember the date of the accident, but it happened just about quitting time. I had gone over on the truck driven by Porter to see how the men on the street were getting along, and Porter and I rode back toward the shale pit in his truck. The truck was a Chevrolet dump truck. On the way back to the pit, we drove south on Second Street, and when he came to Main Street going south, Porter came to a full stop at the iron “Stop” sign there. When we came to the stop, I saw Harris and Gus Estrow standing in the street talking. They were standing about 4 or 5 feet from the curbing on Main Street about 4 or 5 feet west of a telephone post that is on the corner. They saw the truck coming, and when they saw the truck coming they both took about two steps nearer the curbing, but they did not step far enough. Porter drove the truck around the left, and made a left turn. The front of the truck went by Harris and Estrow, but I understand the rear dual wheel caught Harris. I did not feel the bump or see the truck strike Harris. We drove up the street about a half a block before we heard the fellows hollering for us to stop. Porter went around the corner about 2 miles an hour. He had to cut in as he went around the corner to get inside the iron sign in the middle of Main Street. When I got back to the scene of the accident Harris was lying right in the street about 5 feet from the curbing. I saw that his left leg was broken. He was carried over to a store and the doctor called. I did not think anything about there going to be an accident at the time. I thought the truck would clear Harris all right. I did not see Harris step back into the truck. The paving was dry, and the weather was clear on the day of the accident. WM. J. CLArk. MYSTIC, IOWA, February 18, 1935. Report of Emery Free, of Mystic, Iowa, made in connection with the accident of J. P. Harris injured December 20, 1933, when struck by a Civil Works Administration truck driven by Gilbert Porter, a Civil Works Administration man I am 30 years old, married, and I live at Mystic, Iowa. I am employed as a coal miner at the Sunshine Coal Co. mine No. 2. I can always be located either at the mine or at home. At the time of this accident I was standing in Henderson's grocery store at the corner of Second and Main. This store is just across the street from where the accident happened. I was looking out through the glass door of the store and saw the truck driven by Gilbert Porter come south on Second Street, and make the stop at the "Stop" sign just before it came into Main. Bill Clarke was riding in the front seat with Porter. Harris, when I first saw him, was on the southwest corner of Main and Second, and he walked across the street directly to the sopt where he was struck by the truck. He had walked over to a point about 5 feet from the curbing, and had stopped in the street, and started talking to Gus Astroth, who was standing on the northwest corner. Harris has a habit of stopping in the street and talking to friends, and at this time he had his back to the street, and was facing the bank building on the northwest corner. The After the truck stopped at the "Stop" sign, it pulled around the corner in low gear. The driver had to hug the corner to get inside the "keep to right" sign that was located midway between the two north corners of Main street. front wheels of the truck passed by him all right, but as the dual wheel came around struck him, and ran over his left leg. The body of the truck did not strike Harris. A brace on the side of the bed hit Harris first. Harris saw the truck and started to step out of the way, but the wheel of the truck caught him before he got out of the way. The truck was going less than 5 miles an hour at the time it struck Harris. The truck went up the street about 50 feet before it stopped, as the driver did not know of the accident. When Harris was lying in the street with his head to the west he was about 4 feet from the northwest curbing on Maint Street. There is a telephone pole right on the curbing at the corner of Main and Second, and west on Main there is a fire hydrant 5 feet from the telephone pole. Harris was standing about midway between these and about 5 feet from the curbing, when he was struck. I ran right across the street, and we noticed his left leg was broken, so I helped get a cot to carry him over to his son's store. I have known Harris around 20 years. Since the accident he has been using crutches, and now is using a cane. He has been practically disabled up to this time. I did not know who else saw this accident as a large crowd gathered right away, and I do not know who saw the accident and who did not. I have read the above statement, and it is correct and true. EMERY FREE. MYSTIC, IOWA, February 18, 1935. Report of Dr. N. W. Labagh, made in connection with the accident of J. P. Harris, struck by a truck driven by a Civil Works Administration employee on December 20, 1933, at Mystic, Iowa. I am a graduate of the Keokuk Medical College of Physicians and Surgeons, 1904. I have practiced in the town of Mystic since 1907. I have known Mr. Harris since the date of moving here. I have done work for him at intervals since the time I first came here. I first saw Mr. Harris at about 5 p. m. on December 20, 1933. He gave a history of having been struck and knocked down by a shale truck in the streets of Mystic, Iowa. Gilbert Porter was named as the driver of this truck. seen first at a store on the corner of Maine Street and Second. He was Examination showed a compound comminuted fracture of the tibia and the fibia of the left leg. The break was about 4 or 5 inches above the ankle. At the store I put on a temporary splint, and later at his home I put on splints. About a week later the leg was put in a plaster cast at the St. Joseph Hospital in Centerville, Iowa. The union in the leg was very slow, and X-rays were taken and the position was adjusted, and another cast was put on. After this adjustment, the cast was changed again about 2 months later, and another adjustment was made. There were several different casts put on the leg. The union was very slow, as the location of the fracture was in a bad place. The last cast was removed as I remember sometime in November 1934. After the cast was removed a steel brace was put on the leg, and he has worn this up to this time. wear the brace a year, The prognosis in this case is fair. He may have to or even permanently. There is bony union in the leg. Harris is able to get about with a cane at present. There may be some permanent loss of motion in the leg, and there is a possibility he will use a cane the rest of his life. The condition at present will not warrant any accurate prognosis. Time will show the result. Harris is still under my observation, and I tell him to limit his activities as much as possible. My services in this case amounted to $148. However, this is not his total bill. He had some X-ray pictures at the hospital, and with Dr. Hickman of Centerville. I have read the above report, and it is correct and true to the best of my knowledge. N. W. LABAGH, M. D. AFFIDAVIT STATE OF IOWA, Appanoose County, ss: I, J. P. Harris, being first duly sworn on my oath do depose and state, that I am a resident of Mystic, Iowa, and the same person who received injuries on the 20th day of December 1933, when struck by a truck engaged in Civil Works Administration work. That prior to the time of said injury I engaged in farming and acted as a seed merchant with headquarters at Mystic, Iowa, and during the 5 or 6 years immediately preceding said accident my average annual net income was $1,500 per year. That for a period of at least 12 months following the time of said accident I was totally disabled, and during practically the whole of said period my leg was in a plaster-of-paris case. That my disability gradually decreased until at the present time I am advised by my physician that I have a disability of 25 percent. However, at the present time it is necessary for me to hire all of my farm work done, and prior to the injury I did a portion of this work myself. That at the present time I am unable to handle and test seed, and must hire such work done and prior to said injury I did the major portion of this work myself. That it is my opinion that my present disability will never be completely removed and that it will continue to such an extent that I can never again perform the physical work which I did in connection with my farming operations, and in connection with my business as a seed merchant prior to the time of my injury. That at the present time I am able to do only the mental work attendant to said businesses, and it is my opinion that in the future it will be necessary for me to continue to hire my farm work done, and also to hire the physical work connected with my seed business done. A That my present disability and that disability, which will continue into the future, seriously interferes with my ability to make a living as a seed merchant. In this part of the country there is a great deal of competition among seed buyers and it is necessary for them to make personal calls upon farm owners, to personally inspect seed in the fields, to personally inspect seed at threshing time, and to do a great many other physical acts in order to obtain a fair share of the business. leg disability, such as I have, not only inconveniences me in this business, but also makes it an impossibility to carry on my business in the manner and to the same extent that I did prior to the injury. That such will materially reduce the extent of my business and any profits that I might derive therefrom. Dated this 10th day of May, A. D. 1935. J. P. HARRIS. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 10th day of May, A. D. 1935. [SEAL] H. E. VALENTINE, Notary Public. |