TRAILER ACCIDENT PROVES FATAL

One Killed, Two Injured As Trailer Breaks Loose From Car And Goes Into Ditch. Faulty Hitch Is Blamed.

INJURED ARE RECOVERING

In the midst of joyful preparations for the annual Homecoming banquet and bonfire at Dana College, members of the faculty and student body, as well as the entire population of Blair, were cast into the spirit of mourning as the news of a fatal automobile accident involving a popular young lady, both at Dana college and in affairs of this city, was brought to light last Friday noon.

Miss Oreta George, daughter of Rev. and Mrs. W. C. George, Superintendent of the Crowell Memorial Home, was fatally injured, and Miss Madeline Nielsen, daughter of Jens Nielsen and Miss Margaret Henningsen, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. D. Henningsen, all of Blair, were the injured.

The group of young men and women had been busy during the morning collecting boxes from the stores about the town for the annual homecoming bonfire which is staged in connection with the homecoming banquet and other activities. A trailer of the two wheeled type was being used to transport the boxes to the college campus. After emptying each load, several of the members of the committee in charge of the work had been climbing into the trailer and riding downtown, thus adding a little additional fun to the work.

Upon the fatal trip, the three young ladies involved happened to be in the trailer, and by some means or other the trailer became unhitched. Being of the two wheel type, the tongue pitched downward into the hard roadbed, throwing the girls out with great force. Death to Miss George was caused by a severe fracture of the skull which occurred when she struck her head on a large plank in the end of a culvert at the scene of the accident.

Investigation following the accident revealed that the hitching bolt, although more than one half inches thick, had been broken off which resulted in the trailer getting out of control.

Miss Nielsen suffered severe bruises and a large scalp wound, confining her to her home for several days. Injuries to Miss Henningsen consisted of a crushed knee joint and numerous bruises. Both were given medical attention immediately following the accident and indications are that both will recover with no permanent effects.

Following is a complete obituary of the deceased:

Oreta Meta, daughter of William G. and Meta George, was born in Dalton, Mo. July 13, 1911, and died March 3, 1933 in Blair, Nebraska.

Being the child of the parsonage, she lived in various places, Dalton Mo; Macon, Nebr; Hitchcock, Okla, where she started to school; Humbolt, Nebr; Clatonia, where she joined the Methodist church following a revival meeting; Osceola; Kennard; Hooper, where she graduated from the public schools in the class of 1929; and Blair, where after one year in the Nebraska Wesleyan, she attended Dana College, being a junior.

She was baptized as an infant and loved the work of the church. She was a valuable helper to her father, both when he was in the pastorate and through the last two and a half years while he has been Superintendent of the Crowell Memorial Home. She had planned to continue her study of music, and at Dana was a member of a Girls’ Trio and of the A Capella choir. She was a cheerful and friendly girl, full of life, and an excellent student.

She leaves her parents, the Rev. and Mrs. W. C. George, three brothers, Herbert, Warren and Waldon, and her grandmother, Mrs. E. J. George, all of Blair.

Brief services were conducted at the Crowell Memorial Home Monday morning with her pastor, Walter H. Jackson in charge, and at the Methodist Church in Blair with sermons by the Rev. Samuel Beechner of Lincoln and the Rev. C. C. Wilson of Omaha. Interment was made at Aurora, Nebraska where a tribute was paid by President Erland Nelson of Dana, and a short sermon was given by her pastor.

~~~Obituaries courtesy of the Nebraska Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair, Nebraska Public Library~~~

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