Billie Hineline Dies In A Bank Slide

Tragedy struck a carefree group of DeSoto rural school youngsters Tuesday morning when recess period ended in death and injuries as the bank of near Mill Creek collapsed and killed Billie Hineline, 6, and left four of his playmates injured.

These are the victims; dead, Billie Hineline, 6, first grade pupil, son of Mr. and Mrs. William Hineline; injured, Ralph Hineline, 5, first grade pupil, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Hineline; he had a broken leg; Iver Pieper, 9, fourth grade pupil, son of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Pieper; Leland Hineline, 8, fourth grade pupil, son of Mr. and Mrs. Clifford Hineline; Dave Paulson, 9, fourth grade pupil, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Paulson. The Hineline boys are all cousins.

The boys, with other schoolmates, were scooping out a hole near the bottom of a deep ravine. During the morning play period suddenly one of the other older cried, "Look out, it's falling in". Before the others had time to get out of the way a large mass of dirt caved in burying the five boys. The older students, Louie Sulley and Kenneth Anderson, cried for help and began dragging out the lads nearest the surface. Working in a nearby field was Roland Smith, who ran to the scene. About the same time others came, Vernon Hineline, was poschnow (?), Charles Cleaver and son Carol. They dug feverishly with their hands and with shovels and with scoops while a call was placed to Blair for doctors and ambulances and firemen.

"Unbelievable sight", Smith later said of the sight, which greeted his eyes as he dashed up. He could not see the heads of three or four of the boys in the mass of dirt and all the boys were screaming in terror. He had no idea how many children were in the cave-in. The injured boys were quickly removed from the cave-in, but Billie was not found for ten minutes or so. He was carried to the school yard by Vernon Hineline and aid arrived from Blair just as artificial respiration was being started. Doctors supervised resuscitation efforts for over half an hour but there was no sign of life and the lad was pronounced dead at 11:30. It is believed possible a broken neck may have caused the boy’s death instantly when the cave-in occurred. The body was removed to the Campbell Mortuary in Blair. Ralph was taken to the Blair Hospital but now has been returned to his home.

During the death emergency, the teacher of the 35 pupils, Miss Marjorie Seltz, remained composed helping share her charges. The parents credited her calmness with preventing a number of children from breaking down with shock after the experience they had witnessed. Mrs. Seltz sent the pupils to their homes as soon as Billie was given up as dead.

Popular with his playmates, Billie was the only child of the family and also the only grandchild of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Hineline and Mr. and Mrs. Martin Hoier. A year ago the boy had spent five weeks in the hospital suffering with spinal meningitis and mastoid trouble.

Funeral services will be 2 p.m. Friday at the first Lutheran Church in Blair. Interment will be in the Blair Cemetery.

#2-Enterprise 23 April 1942

(Photo of bank; Photo of Billy; Photo of Ralph: Caption: Ralph Hineline…still very pale and frightened and suffering a broken leg, rest from his ordeal in the Blair Hospital)

One Killed, Four Injured as Schoolboys Victims of Earth Slide

5 Boys At DeSoto School Involved In Accident Tuesday Morning

BILLY DEAN HINELINE, 7, SUFFOCATED

Five boys, all students in the DeSoto school, were involved in a tragic accident last Tuesday morning which resulted in the death of one and the serious injury of another and left the neighborhood stunned by the suddenness and seriousness of the entire affair. The boys were playing in a creek nearby their school when a bank of dirt above them caved off, suffocating Billy Dean Hineline and breaking the right leg of a cousin, Ralph Hineline.

The five boys involved, in addition to those previously names, were Iver Piper, son of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Piper; Garry Paulson, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Paulson; and Leland Hineline, son of Mr. and Mrs. Clifford Hineline.

At recess time Tuesday morning, the boys, whose ages ranged from 7 to 9 years, along with several others from the school went into ??? in the mud and water of the creek. The bank caved off in large chunks, some of which weighed as much as several hundred pounds, burying several of the youths entirely.

A number of the boys at the school ran nearly half a mile to the Roland Smith farm home to summon aid by telephone while others worked feverishly to uncover the buried boys. Men of the district soon assembled as well as doctors from Blair, members of the Blair Fire Department and an ambulance, and the boys were dug out of the mud and carried into the school house for treatment.

Ralph Hineline, whose right leg was broken between the ankle and the knee when a huge piece of dirt fell upon him, was immediately taken to the Art Brown home near the school. He was later taken to the Blair Hospital in an ambulance.

Artificial respiration was meanwhile given to Billy Dean Hineline but the efforts were to no avail. He was first worked upon on the creek bank and later taken into the school house where an effort was made to warm him up over the furnace, but rescue from the cold creek waters had come too late.

The other three boys were taken in a car to the Roland Smith home where they were bathed and put to bed. They remained there throughout the day and still suffered from shock and chill late Tuesday.

The teacher at the school is Miss Marjorie Seltz who told The Enterprise following the accident, that she had repeatedly warned the children against playing in the creek.

The school yard is small, due to the fact that the creek runs just back of the school and a roadway is in front of it. According to information given The Enterprise, there has been an appropriation in the school’s budget to buy playground equipment but a new location for the school has been needed if it is to be used. At one time the DeSoto district had two school houses, the present one and another on the bottom lands east of the DeSoto store. The district is one which is oddly shaped, thereby necessitating long distances to school and as a result a suitable location has not been easy.

Billy Dean was an only child of Mr. and Mrs. William Hineline, and an only grandchild on both sides of the family.

Funeral services under the direction of Campbell Mortuary will be held tomorrow (Friday) afternoon at two o’clock a the First Lutheran Church at Blair. Rev. Harold Jorgensen will officiate.

#3-30 Apr., 1942 - The Enterprise

BILLY DEAN HINELINE RITES APRIL 24

Funeral services for Billy Dean Hineline were held on Friday of last week from the First Lutheran church with Rev. H. C. Jorgensen officiating, and interment, under the direction of J. E. Campbell, was made in the Blair cemetery.

The pallbearers were his schoolmates, Carrol Cleaver, Arguil Hurst, Gerald Cobbs, Louis Sully, James West and Roland Smith, Jr., all of whom were saddened by the tragic event and the loss of their playmate.

Billy Dean was born October 13, 1935 at Omaha, and had spent his life on his father’s farm, William Hineline. He was a favorite among his schoolmates and will be missed by them.

Last spring he was in the hospital for five weeks suffering from meningitis and mastoid trouble, and these sufferings which were borne with great patience endeared him to his friends and relatives and made the tragic death all the more painful to bear.

The sympathy of the entire community goes out to the grief-stricken parents.

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