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W. B. Morris Hit By Auto While Changing Tire On Highway Near Sund BRIGHT LIGHTS ARE BLAMED FOR TRAGEDY A thirty-six year old con struction company employee was fatally injured early Saturday night when struck by an automobile while he was changing a tire on his own car on highway No. 30, about one-half mile east of Sunol. The dead man is W. B. Morris, 36, an employee of The Tillotson Construction Co. of Omaha, engaged in building a new elevator at Lodgepole. Deputy Sheriff Arnold Braasch said the driver of the car which Struck Morris was Howard B. Kerk, 48, a resident of Lodgepole and an employee of the county roads de partment. Braasch said Kerk told him that the bright lights on Mor ris’ stalled car were so blinding that he (Kerk) pulled to the wrong side of the highway without knowing . County Attorney R. P. Kepler said no inquest will be held. Morris’ wife and five-year old son were in his car but they were not injured, although the car was brushed slightly as the Kerk ma chine passed. Here is the way Braasch reconstructed the accident after visiting the scene: Morris was en route west and I had pulled to the north side of the concrete slab to change the left front tire on his machine. His car was off the concrete. Kerk, driving east, apparently was blinded by the lights on the Morris car and could neither tell that the car was stopped nor that it was off the concrete Kerk guided his own car accord ing to the headlights on Morris' machine and pulled to the extreme north edge of the pavement, where he struck Morris and knocked him about twenty-five feet. The Morris car was brushed but was not hit hard enough to knock over the jack under the wheel. Morris was unconscious when aid arrived at the scene, Braasch said and he never regained conscious ness. The accident occurred about 7:20 p. m. Saturday night and Mor ris died in a Sidney hospital about one a. m. Sunday without regain ing consciousness. Braasch said a Greyhound Bus driver, Jesse Webber, was driving behind Kerk and was a witness to the accident. He told Braasch that the lights on Morris’ stalled ma chine were very blinding. In Kerk’s car were his wife, three children and another child. They had been to Sidney on a shopping mission and were returning to their home at Lodgepole. Late Saturday night Braasch took State Patrolman E. H. Hailey to the scene and they went over it again to make sure that all details were correct. When the first report of the ac cident came in, it was taken by Chief of Police Harvey Vizina, who got in touch with Braasch because Sheriff W. W. Schulz is in Okla homa to get a prisoner. Braasch ar rived on the scene about twenty minutes after the accident hap pened. Morris died of a crushed chest, fractured skull and internal injur ies, Dr. C. B. Dorwart reported. His body was taken to the Gehrig Funeral Home and is to be sent to Kansas City for burial.
Newspaper Details
Sidney Telegraph
Sidney, Nebraska, US
Tue, Oct 09, 1945
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
IL, USA 15 Jun 2026
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