Car Wreck Report

So who's been crashing into whom lately?

Our first crash actually didn't happen lately; it happened in July 1917, but the resulting lawsuit waited until January 1919 to get decided. The two parties were John Busselburg, who farmed his own land in northern Winfield Township, and John Szikora,* who the previous summer had rented from Alex Boyd 160 acres of excellent farmland just east of Merrillville.

The accident happened on "the Jenkins road." I have no clue where that might be. Evidently it ran east and west, because John S. was turning onto it from an intersecting road that ran north and south. John B. was just then passing through the intersection. The Szikora auto "sideswiped" the Busselburg car, which ran off into a ditch and was damaged.

John B. sued John S. A year and a half went by. Then the case came up for hearing in the circuit court late in January 1919. The trial took two days. On the morning of the third came the decision: John S. had to pay $100 in damages to John B.

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The next case, by comparison, was tried and decided with lightning speed.

On January 11, 1919, Ainsworth's own Charles Goldman was driving his car at 17th and Washington Streets in Gary when he was "run into," according to the Gazette, by a Goodman department store vehicle driven or owned (so far as I can tell) by one William B. Sharr. The Sharr/Goodman side first had Charles "arrested for assault and battery upon a public street," but dropped that case. Instead, Mr. Sharr filed a lawsuit seeking $200 in damages from Charles, who counterfiled for $34 in damages.

Perhaps because it was venued to Ross Township and heard by Hobart's Justice of the Peace Paul Emery, the case waited only two months. On March 4 Justice Emery decided: neither party got any damages, but Mr. Sharr had to pay the court costs.

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*Both surnames have numerous spellings; in each case I am just picking one and sticking with it for the sake of consistency.


Sources:
♦ "Chas. Goldman Wins Damage Suit in Justice Emery's Court Tuesday." Hobart News 6 Mar. 1919.
♦ "From Round About." Hobart News 30 Jan. 1919.
♦ "Goldman Wins Damage Suit." Hobart Gazette 7 Mar. 1919.
♦ "Local Drifts." Hobart Gazette 30 Aug. 1918.