The Fort Dodge Daily Chronicle: June 28, 1913
M’Creight Tells of France DeathWas Riding on the Interurban Car When Accident HappenedCharles France Died Shortly After AccidentOperation at Mercy Hospital Fails to Save Man’s Life – Chest Was CrushedThat Charles M. France met his death thru no fault of the Interurban which struck him Saturday afternoon at the crossing of the Hawkeye highway at south 20th street, is the opinion of Dr. McCreight, who was on the car. “I was on the incoming three o’clock car when the acccident happened,” he stated to a representative of the Chronicle. “It stopped for the block of the Great Western road and had just started up again. It was going slowly and I remember hearing the bell ringing. Whether or not the whistle was blown I do not remember. As we approached the crossing road bed the car slowed down, but did not entirely stop; just then it was jarred and it seemed as if the car had gone off the track. Then came a regular shower of glass from the windshield. The interurban was stopped within its own length. I was in the smoking apartment at the time and it seemed as if the auto had hit the car near the baggage end. When I first saw France it was from back platform. He was lying but a few feet away with his head towards the car and his body down the embankment. As I was going towards him he gave a few gasping breaths and was still breathing when I reached him. We carried him into the shade and the first passing automobile was requested to take him to the hospital. We did this as it was far quicker than waiting for the ambulance. He was taken immediately to the operating room where examination took place. It was found that he had severe injuries on his chest, just as if he had been crushed by the steering wheel, and a punctured wound over the right eye. Everything was done to revive him and before his death he rallied enough to tell us his name. He did not realize what had happened or where he was. He was put to bed and died within fifteen minutes at 4:15 o’clock. The car was the most complete wreck I ever saw. It was carried not quite the length of the interurban and was squeezed between a telephone pole and the car. It was twisted twice around just as a towel would be wrung. The car was evidently a new one as the speedometer registered just three hundred miles. The crossing is very clear there and how it happened I cannot say. To avoid the car he could have turned down 22nd street. Old Resident of IowaCharles M. France had lived in Iowa for a number of years, having settled on a farm near Webster City some years ago. He was born in Wisconsin in 1858 and since last March has been a resident of Woolstock, having moved there from a farm near Webster City. He is survived by his wife and one child, Mrs. E.A. Turner of Webster City. The funeral services will be held tomorrow from the house at 3 o’clock. |
 Photo of C.M. France as a young man is provided courtesy of Jane Curtis, the great-granddaughter of C.M. France. The Fort Dodge Messenger: June 30, 1913 C.M. France Was Motor Accident Victim SaturdayWoolstock Man Succumbed Shortly After HurtBody Sent to WoolstockC.M. France of Woolstock died at Mercy hospital Saturday afternoon a few minutes after he was hit by the 3:00 p.m. interurban car of the Fort Dodge, Des Moines and Southern. France was driving his automobile across in front of the interurban car at the east end of the city limits where the Hawkeye highway crosses the interurban tracks. He was rushed at once to the hospital and every effort was made to save his life but he injuries were of too serious a nature. The body was sent to Woolstock yesterday morning for burial. |
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The Fort Dodge Messenger: June 30, 1904
The annual cry of “mad dog” has started. Yesterday at Dana, a little town ont he Rock Island road about twelve miles south of Gowrie, a rabid dog sent the populace into a frenzy of terror by running amuck (sic) in the streets. Rumor reports several children were bitten more or less seriously and numerous dogs were infected by bites of the mad animal.
The dog was finally killed and then began a search of the city for the animals which had received bites during the time he had been at large. At six o’clock in the evening a considerable amount of sausage material was lying loose and harmless around the city in the shape of defunct canines. Today the crusade is being continued with zest by the citizens and by sunset the dog that remains alive in that town will have to be able to show an indisputable alibi proving he was out of the neighborhood at the time of the outbreak and exhibit a health certificate from a veterinary into the bargain.
The town is thoroughly aroused over the matter. It is not known how long the animal had been showing symptoms of the disease, where he had been nor how many animals have been infected by its ravages. The people of the town will keep a close lookout and tremble at the approach of anything that looks like a dog for the next sixty days, or until there is no further possible danger from this source.
The disease, where contracted by infection, usually makes its appearance in the victim in the period of nine days. In some cases, however, the malady has been known to lie dormant in the blod (sic) for months and then at some unexpected time and place break out with as much sudden violence as though it had come at the usual time. The animal or person once bitten is not safe from an attack of the disease even after the lapse of months.
(Editor’s note: I had thought the reference in the last paragraph to an incubation period of months after being infected would prove to be an old wives’ tale. However, the National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health states that the incubation period ranges from 10 days to seven years.)
