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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 15, 1950)
Pa?e 6 “** TTTE BATTALION 1950 Annual Christmas Safety Edition Friday, December 15, H950 ■How Four Teen-Agers Met Death Actual Case History Shows Tragic Price of Highway Pranks Elsie didn’t like the loss of the shaker. To punish the boys, the waitress pulled the plug on the pin-ball machine so that nobody could play, The fellows all sat quietly on the uncertain. stools for a minute, “just to show me they knew how to act,” said Elsie. In the crowd was Lawrence “Sleepy” Muhlenbruck, 18, who has done considerable chasing around in cars. He had a 1936 Ford park ed outside. Probably packed there at the same time was Kibsgaard’s Olds. George Kibsgaard was perhaps (Editor’s Note: The following Story,- which appeared originally in the DesMoines (la.) Sunday Register, Nov. 13, 1949, is re printed here as an actual re port of how four teen-age driv ers met death. It’s a long story and not a pleasant one. But it shows factually and graphically why we consider traffic safety, especially among younger driv ers, a matter that deserves our attention at all times.) By GEORGE MILLS Staff AVriter Des Moines Sunday Register Hampton, la.—Eighteen-y e a r - old Francis Elwood plowed all day on the Ileilskov farm where he worked southwest of town. After a supper of weiners, he went up to his room to write some letters. He was tired. He planned to go to bed early. He didn’t know that he had a date with death in three hours. In northeast Hampton, big George Kibsgaard also didn’t know he had only three hours left to live. George, 18, had helped his electrician father move a meter in a house that day. After supper, George took his 1936 Oldsmobile and went up town, just as he always had done. It was so routine that he didn’t even say goodbye to his, parents. In west Hampton, little Russell Jensen, 19 and young-looking for his age, washed up in the little backdot 1 house where he lived with his father. Ru^s polished cars that day in the Ford garage. Now he was go- may havq scraped front fenders, ing to have a bowl of chili at the At least one of them also thought Skelly lunchroom where the teen- there was something manly about agers hhng out. speeding down the highway at Russell similarly had no realiza- night without' lights. Their idea tion of the fact that the end of his of a good time was to play life was only hours away. “swerve” with cars going 60 or 70 Lloyd Casey, 18, a big likable miles an hour, redhead, went home from the Elsie in the luncliroom remem- Hampton Chronicle where he was bers that on the night of the acci- working as a printer apprentice: dent “George Kibsgaard and El- He also thought he would drop over wood were not in here. They to the Skelly diner after the eve- ,were put in front.” ning .meal. The march of events It was getting along toward 8 was to claim Lloyd’s life, too, very o’clock, time to go.- soon. Russ Bonjour, oldest of the In two other homes, boys ate bunch, brought along some apples at the family tables, perhaps and gum. j looked at comic books, talked on the' telephone, got ready to go • • out for a while. p or ^ liex ^. half-hour, where As the minutes ticked away that j 10 y S weT1 ^ allf | w hat they did, Tuesday night, the cast slowly j 10 hody seems to know. . gathered for the tragedy in which this is known: About 8:30 four were to die. The question the two automobiles dashed along came up: '^hajl there be any girls Highway 3 west of Hampton. Kibs- in on this. No, it was decided. . o-aard, going west, had the Olds ^ 0 wide open at 73. Speeding east was Sleepy’s car. In the Skelly lunchroom, mean- Kibsgaard had two passengers and himself. Muhlenbruck had four and himself. At least one car had the lights off. Death waited in the pleasant moonlight night, just east of a stone farmhouse six and a half miles west of town. The highway patrol says one car was 18 inches over the middle of the road, the other 14. That’s the story the marks tell on the con- Somebody broke a crete. Unless somebody swerved, a collision was inevitable. With a tearing impact of metal on metal and flesh, the two cars met in a terrific crash. Whether the drivers didn’t see each other or were testing each other’s nerve while, a dozen youths had gather ed. Russ Jensen had his bowl of chili. He kidded Elsie Woodley, the waitress, by telling her it was hot tomato juice. The jar with $1 bills and half- dollars in it, “In Remembrance of the Boys,” wasn’t out yet. That was to come later. Russell Bonjour, 22, played the pin-ball machine, as several boys clustered around it. Jensen had a bottle of pop. salt shaker. Kibsgaard’s bluish-green Olds mobile literally climbed up on the left side of the Muhlenbruck car. The Olds flew through the air. Bodies hurtled from the seats. The car landed with a crunch on the shoulder, with its rear wheels down in the ditch. It also landed on top of Francis Elwood, the boy who was going to been the best lesson in driving they ever could have.” any good to bar young drivers from the highways. Probably “just as many would be driving without drivers licenses as there are now.” Jane gave an insight into how the Hampton teen-agers tore around in cars. “We would be cruising around in George Kibsgaard’s car,” she said. “Pretty soon Sleepy Muhl enbruck would start following us. AVe never followed him, he always followed us. “We would go out on the high way and outdistance him, then double back on a gravel road. Jane Maneely, whose life may George’s car was faster than have been saved because she had to si ee py’ s> The accident toll of four dead and four injured shook this Frank lin county seat town to its founda tions. It also uncovered some startling things about teen-age driving in this area. The condition isn’t peculiar to Franklin county, however. The teen-age traffic death rate for the state is four or five times worse than that of the adult driver. even a bigger highway menace write some letters that night and than Sleepy, but neither of them, go to bed early. or any of the other boys for that matter, indulged in liquor. George, though, had been fined twice in the last six months for reckless driving, and once before in 1948. Sleepy was in. court in 1948 at the same time as George. The muffler pressed down on. El- wood’s face, broke his nose/mash ed in his features and seared the skin. Undoubtedly unconscious, he suffocated. They didn’t even find his body until one and a half hours later when a highway patrolman hap- The two youths several nights pened to turn a flashlight on the he was cold before had been in a near-crash bottom of the car. He saw El- shock, with each other out on the high- -wood’s shoe sticking out. way. At least once before they Kibsgaard died quickly, per haps immediately. His'face and head were crushed beyond rec ognition. Jensen lived until 7 o’clock the next morning. He had a fractured skull and a sdalp wound that bled interminably. His face was swol- Teen-age tragedy in Texas! No, this is not one of the cars involved in the acci dent described on this page. Two young citizens of our state became statistics when tree, steel and flesh cam A together tq form this scene. Follow the arrows — they point to what is left of two human beings. Gruesome? Shocking? Yes. But it., tells., much., better than words why every citizen, especially ..ones ..between the ages of 16 and 25, must face and de feat the teen-age driving menace. It can and does happen here. len, he was cut from flying glass, fracture and severe cuts and abra and clammy with sions. He Lloyd Casey, 18, had a badly cut throat, cuts on his face, abdominal injuries, ,a left leg in which the bone.s were shattered. He died Friday night. Sleepy Muhlenbruck had four fractures in the pelvis, a broken face from the corner left arm; a right, shoulder blade back toward the ear. couldn’t drive a car for months even if the authorities Would let him. Bonjour had a broken left arm and leg, severe facial cuts and bruises and a sprained left shoul der. Leon Casey, 16, Lloyd’s broth er, had a tear in the flesh of his of one ■ lip He lost all his upper and lower front teeth, suffered a crushed nose and a broken right wrist. MeHin Numelin, 16, had a possi ble skull fracture. The left side of his head was badly swollen. M. J. Greenfield, the Marhpton undertaker, said afterward: “If all the teen-agers in town could have been out there pick ing up those boys, it would have take care of children that night, said some amazing things in an interview. Jane went riding often with Kibsgaard and Elwood. She wears Elwood’s motorcycle ring attached to a chain around her neck. “I like reckless driving and I like speed,” she said frankly. “It’s only something- like this that teaches you a lesson, when somebody awfully close to you is killed. I don’t think you can learn, practices only by experience. swerve. “I was in a motorcycle accident “Rat racing” as described by the once but that didn’t bother me. high school bobby soxer is one car (She had a couple of stitches in racing to pass another, her head and a scar on her leg.) “In swerving, you just swerve But this accident has jarred me the car down the road, back and quite a bit.” forth, back and forth, just enough She isn’t sure, however, but to give it a gentle rock,” she said, that “this spell” will wear off Jane was along when they had “The day George got his carbu retor fixed,” she recalled, “we went out to see how fast it would go. Seventy-five was the top. It got up to 80 1 once but came x-ight back down. “It’s just a matter of luck that I wasn’t along the night of the crash. If I hadn’t been baby sitting, I would have. In describing other teen-age driving escapades, Jane told of the of “rat racing” and and she will crave speed again. She said she had ridden on a motorcycle going 105 miles an hour. Her top speed in a car is also 105. An adult was driving the car, incidentally. “Just cruising along at 55 or 60 on a motorcycle satisfies me per fectly,” she related. “AVhen it gets up to 75 or 80, I get a little wary.” She doesn’t believe it would do two close calls. Once the teen agers “nearly hit another car” and another time almost went into the ditch. Still another time she was out “bushwhacking” with George. (Bushwhacking is the px-actice of turning a spotlight on a parked couple.) A Hampton youth, who is in the service now, and Kibsgaard (See ‘BRAVEST,’ Page 7) ^briuin^ IQ. nAtvepA Here are the answers to the quiz on page 5. Score yourself eight points for each multiple choice question you get right. Add four points for each correct True-False question. 1. d. 100 persons. In the last pre-war year, 1941, the death total was 40,000, or an average of 112 per day. Current trends indicate that the daily average now is appi-oximately the same. 2. c. clear. Note that this question refers to fatal accidents. Most of us have learned to fear snow, x-ain and fog, and we di-ive ac cordingly. There are many minor mishaps in such weather, but because few of us drive at high speeds under these conditions, fatal accidents occur more rarely than one would suspect. 3. b. 18 to 24 years. Recent figures indicate that the most dan gerous ages are 18 and 19; that drivers under 20 and over 60 have the highest accident rates. 4. c. twenty to thirty feet. The Uniform Vehicle Code specifies 30 feet. Vax-ious states specify varying distances between 18 and 30 feet. Your answer is correct if you checked c. Now check one thing more—your brakes! 5 ' c. the pedestrian. He is legally entitled to continue his prog ress uninterrupted and drivers must wait for him even though they now have the green light or GO sign. 6. d. is quadrupled. The energy in a moving body increases not in direct proportion to speed, but as the square of the speed. At 40 miles per hour, therefoi-e, it takes four times the braking distance to stop the car that it would at 20. At 60 miles an hour it would take nine times the distance. 7. c. ten stories high. AVhenever you ax-e tempted to speed, think of this gx-aphic illustration. If you should hit a telephone pole, a culvert, or any other solid object at that speed you and your car will be smashed as irrepax-ably as if you had driven off the top of a ten-story building. 8. f. 720 feet. As speed is increased, the. car requires an in creased turning i-adius. This radius increases as the square of the speed. Thus, when speed is doubled, the safe turning x-adius is quad rupled; when speed is tripled the safe turning radius is nine times longer. An appreciation of these facts will explain many accidents on cui-ves. 9. c. within the assured safe distance which you can see. Road, light, weather and traffic conditions vary greatly, making 50 miles an hour safe at times and 20 miles an hour dangerous at others. No matter how straight the road, how good the car or how dry the pave ment, if headlights cax-ry only 200 feet you must drive in the dark at a speed which will allow you to stop, in an emergency, within 200 feet. Likewise, in daylight, you must drive at a speed which will allow you to stop in time should the car ahead stop suddenly, should another car emerge suddenly from a side x-oad, or should a child dai’t suddenly into the road ahead of you. 10. d. no apparent defects. Many drivers, after an, accident, will insist that the gas pedal stuck, or that the brakes suddenly failed or that something else went wrong. Actually, more than 90 per cent of all vehicles involved in accidents are found to be in apparently good condition with no major defects noted in steering, bx-aking, lighting, etc. 11. FALSE Other and more serious hazai’ds become a factor in driving at night. About 60 per cent of all traffic accidents occur during the hours of darkness when thex-e is only about 25 per cent of the traffic on the roads. When the sun goes down, cut your, speed down. 12. FALSE Approximately 90% of all accidents involve male drivers. Of course, there are more male drivers than female drivex-s, and on an average they dx-ive many more miles each year; thus, they ax-e exposed to more hazai'ds. 13. FALSE Carbon monoxide gas is odorless. You can’t see it, Smell it or taste it, so beware. (14. FALSE The “one-dxnnk” driver may be as dangerous on the roaq as the enebiiate because even a slight exhilaration may cause him to fake chances. Studies indicate that one or two drinks definitely impair one’s driving ability. 15. FALSE The majority of accidents are caused by diivers with a year or more of experience at the wheel. BANKING SERVICE COLLEGE STATION’S OWN College Station State Bank ] North Gate ; Central Texas Hardware Co. Bryan, Texas e HARDWARE • CHINAWARE CRYSTAL • GIFTS The Exchange Store “Serving Texas Aggies” American Laundry and Dry Cleaners Bryan, Texas Serving the College Station and Bryan Communities Since 1909 First State Bank & Trust Co. BRYAN TEXAS Member Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Henry A. Miller & Co. North Gate Phone 4-1145 Hardware Furniture Gifts rrm m w his mots shoes... Imitation is one of the basic im pulses of human life. From earliest infancy man has learned the ways of life and the paths of progress by imitating others. The child learns to walk as the fledgeling learns to flv -r-by imitating its parents. The impulse to imitate others is strongest in infancy. That is why the little boy in the picture tries to walk in his daddy's shoes. Children learn to walk in their parents' footsteps in many ways. They acquire their habits, their mental attitudes and their sense of values mainly from their elders. And these are the things that will most largely determine their char acters and shape their courses in the years to come. This makes it all-important for people to walk uprightly before their children. Above all, parents should teach their children the de pendence of all life upon God, and the value of religion and the Church as the guardian of man's spiritual existence. And this must be done, line upon line and precept upon precept, in practice as well as in words. Student Publications Texas A&M College t THE CHURCH FOR ALL . . ALL FOR THE CHURCH The Church is the greatest lector on earth lor the building ot character and good citizenship. It is a store house of spiritual values. Without a strong Church, neither democracy nor civilization can survive. There are four sound reasons why every person should attend service reguiady an d support the Church. They are' Calendar of Church Services AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH A&M CHRISTIAN CSURCH 9:45 A.M.—Church School 11:00 A.M.—Morning Worship A&M CHURCH OF CHRIST 9:45 A.M.—Bible Classes 10:45 A.M.—Morning Worship 6:15 P.M.—Youth Meeting A&M METHODIST CHURCH 9:30 A.M.—Sunday School 11:00 A.M.—Morning Worship S. MARY’S CHAPEL St. Mary’s, Sunday Mass, 8:30 and 10 a.m. A&M PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 9:45 A.M. — Sunday School 11:00 A.M. — Morning Wox-ship Service 6:30 P.M. — Student League and Fel lowship. COLLEGE STATION BAPTIST CHURCH 9:45 A.M.—Sunday School 10:50 A.M.—Morning Worship 6:15 P.M.—Training Union 7:f5 P.M.—Evening Worship 9:30 A.M—Bible Class # 10:45 A.M.—Worship Service ST. THOMAS EPISCOPAL CHURCH 8:00 A.M.—Holy Communion 9:30 A.M.—Aggie Coffee Club 9:30 A.M.—Church School 11:00 A.M.—Morning Worship 6:30 P.M.—Evening Services 6:30 P.M.—Student League 7:30 P.M.—Fellowship Service BETHEL LUTHERAN CHURCH (Missouri Synod) 800 S. College Ave. Bryan, Texas 9:30 a.m.—Sunday School and Bible Classes 10:45 a.m.—Morning Worship Service Wednesday Vespers—7:30 p.m. Luther Club—Wed.. 8:30 p.m. The Rev. Wm. C. Petersen, pastor CHRISTIAN SCIENCE SOCIETY 7:30 P.M.—Supper Group (3rd. Wed.) 11:00 A.M. 1 —Morning Worship City National Bank Member Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Bryan, Texas LAUNDROMAT HALF-HOUR LAUNDRY & CLEANERS Authorized Dealer Hamilton (Home) Dryer One Block East of College View Apts. College Station, Texas A&M Grill North Gate THE BEST SUNDAY DINNER IN COLLEGE STATION AFTER CHURCH J. C. Penney & Company Bryan, Texas “Clothing for the Family” MARTIN’S PLACE For a special evening of entertainment bring the family to Martin’s for a de licious Barbecue Dinner. Fresh barbe cue seven days a week. Special rate for picnics. 3403 S. College Road