| Mrs. Pauline Apperson, 36, and mother of four school-age children, met her death Wednesday noon at a railroad crossing in Ft. Calhoun. Mrs. Apperson had taken her three older children to school because the day was rainy. Her youngest child, Sharon, aged 6, was with her in the car when the crash occurred.
Mrs. Apperson was driving west across the railroad crossing at the Wilkinson Manufacturing Co. plant when a northbound freight train, traveling at high speed suddenly appeared from behind the buildings. Mrs. Apperson's car was almost across the track and probably would have cleared the train had she not instinctively applied the brakes when she saw the train bearing down upon her.
The fast-moving train struck the Chevrolet sedan Mrs. Apperson was driving squarely at the rear wheels. Passengers in another car which was following Mrs. Apperson are reported to have said that the car was hurled high in the air, almost as high as the top of the box cars.
Marks at the scene of the crash indicate that the car came to earth about twenty-five feet from the point of impact. The doors of the car flew open and Mrs. Apperson was hurled a distance of thirty feet beyond her car. She died almost instantly of injuries.
Six-year-old Sharon, who was riding in the rear seat, was badly cut about the face. Since the car was a 2 door sedan, she did not fall out. She was given preliminary treatment at the scene of the crash and then rushed to the Blair hospital. It was believed that she would recover.
Mrs. Apperson's body was taken to the Sievers mortuary in Ft. Calhoun.
Mr. and Mrs. Apperson moved to Ft. Calhoun last spring from Arcadia, Nebraska. They lived in the west part of Ft. Calhoun and Mr. Apperson works for the Omaha Production Corporation, an Omaha manufacturing plant. They have no relatives in this immediate area.
The Appersons had four children, 3 girls and a boy, the oldest of whom is 11 years of age. All of the children are enrolled in the Ft. Calhoun schools and Sharon, who was with her mother, attends kindergarten in the afternoon.
Ft. Calhoun residents told The Enterprise that the speed of the trains going through town had picked up considerably since the Calhoun depot had been torn down.
Mr. Apperson, who had been called from his work in Omaha, had visited the crash scene but was unable to give any details of funeral arrangements at that time. | 