Jane is one of 4 siblings and was a twin to James.
This is the story of her untimely death.
Source: "The Daily News," newspaper; Longview, Cowlitz, Washington, Pages 1-2,28 Aug 1939. "Six Lives Snuffed Out In
Terrific Auto Smash
Coupe Carrying Carrolls Residents Rams Oak Point Bridge Sunday
Six Cathlamet celebrants, all residents of Carrolls, were killed, four of them instantly, in an Ocean Beach highway crash early Sunday morning in what is termed the worst single auto accident in Cowlitz county's history.
The fatal mishap occurred at Oak Point at 1:30 a. m. when the 1937 Dodge convertible coupe owned and driven by Dean Nye and bearing five other passengers was traveling at too high speed or, went out of control and without warning was
pitched with death-dealing impact into the abutment and concrete railing of the bridge over Mill creek almost directly in front of the two story Oak Point store, about 12 miles west of Longview on Ocean Beach highway.
The dead:Beryl Nye, 20.Dean Nye, 25.Mrs. Dean Nye, 16.
Albert Unger, 19.Jane Poland, 21.John Parsons, 53.
The party had attended the bridge celebration at Cathlamet and was driving east toward home when death and injury met them at the curve. Mr. and Mrs. Nye,Unger, and Miss Poland are believed to have died instantly. They were dead when
the first passing motorist arrived on the scene and sought to give aid. Parsons died en route to the hospital.
Beryl Nye, sister of Dean Nye, lived until 5:30 p. m. Sunday when she passed away in the Cowlitz General hospital.
The Mill creek bridge is at the bottom of a slight grade which terminates in a wide, sweeping curve. The fast driven Nye car crashed head-on into a left-handed abutment, catapulted or skidded about 15 feet and came to rest
directly across the bridgeway. It was completely demolished. There is a sheer drop down a rocky decline to the water of Mill creek below---(continued on Page 2, Column 1) Six Die When Coupe Smashed Into Bridge
(continued From page 1)
but the car did not take this plunge.
No Outcries Heard
A thunderous crash as steel hit concrete was apparently the only alarm sounded for Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Convis who reside in the apartments above the store and the store owner who was sleeping in a room to the rear of the first floor of the
building heard no outcries. In fact the sleepers did not hear the crash, so accustomed are they to traffic noises at that point, and their first intimation of disaster was when motorists who stopped their cars and gathered to aid,
pounded noisily on the store door seeking a telephone to summon aid.
A resident of a home on the bluff 200 to 300 yards east heard the crash. Passengers in oncoming cars also heard it. They recorded no cries which leads officers to believe the four occupants of the automobile found dead were killed
instantly and the two injured stunned or rendered unconscious.
Three in Each Seat
Mr. and Mrs. Nye, husband and wife, and Unger were riding in the front seat.Byrel Nye, Parsons and Miss Poland were in the rumble seat. The dead, dying,and injured were found jammed well forward and tightly wedged by the bent and
broken steel of the car body. Crowbars and other pries were necessary to extricate them from the debris. The driver was tightly pinned under the wheel and one door was removed before the body could be taken out.
At one point of the rescue efforts the heated engine of the car caught fire. It was extinguished with dirt. Traffic was stalled at both ends of the bridge until officers arrived. As soon as attention was given the occupants of the car, and dead and injured were removed, the car was dragged aside and traffic ordered to proceed.
Telephone Summon: Aid
The call for aid came by telephone to the sheriff's's office from the nearby store. A passerby, name unknown, called central and asked that ambulances, doctors and officers be sent. A. C. Beckham, night jailer in the Cowlitz county
jail, immediately dispatched Deputy Sheriff Hal DeWaide and Al Kuest of the Washington state patrol to the scene, meanwhile summoning ambulances, a doctor and other officers. The Steele ambulance and Dr. J. L. Norris of Longview
arrived at the disaster scene in a few minutes. Officers responding included Sheriff Carl Pritchard, Deputy John Price, Sergeant Abe Little, and Patrolman Bill Kellogg of the state patrol. The Ditlevsen funeral home ambulance was also sent and the Cathlamet fire department first aid emergency car in charge of Fire Chief Mitchell Doumit of Cathlamet made a quick run to the scene.
Marsh Investigates
Shirley Marsh, prosecuting attorney, arrived soon after the officers. He had returned from the bridge celebration a few minutes before summoned, and by a strange quirk of fate recalled he had conversed with those members of the party
in the ill-fated car with whom he was acquainted only a few minutes before he began his homeward journey. Investigation at the scene and inquiry made of officers and those first on the scene led the prosecutor to declare the accident
"due to too much speed." He had not determined on an inquest Monday and it is not likely one will be called.
Officers of the several law enforcement agencies here who investigated and checked the accident were as one in declaring the Nye crash the most appalling
and severe of any on record locally. They could recall at least three highway accidents in which four persons had lost their lives.
Curious Attracted to Scene
When daylight arrived and word of the wreck was learned curious persons began to wend their way to the scene. At times 50 or more were there at a time, and traffic across the bridge was forced to move slowly. This continued until
nightfall, according to E. A. Convis. Mrs. Convis aided in the rescue work Sunday morning by providing sheets and covering for the injured persons.
Residents of Carrolls were stunned by the news as word spread early Sunday morning of the tragedy. Many residents of the community commented on having
seen various members of the party at the Carrolls store early Saturday evening before the ill-fated trip to Cathlamet.
First word of the accident is believed to have been brought to Carrolls by Art Ray, driver of a car which accompanied the Nye party to the bridge celebration Saturday evening. Ray went to the home of Nye's parents and broke the news.
Mr. and Mrs. Nye resided in a two room cabin a few hundred yards from the highway on a side of the road at Carrolls. They have a son, Tommy, age 16 months, now in the care of the grandparents. Nye was employed at the Long-Bell log pond.
Nye's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Howard Nye, live in an adjoining house where Beyrl Nye also resided. Besides his parents, Nye and his sister are survived by a
brother Forrest, popularly known as Bill, by twin brothers, Bennie and Barney who left only a few days ago to go hop picking at Independence, Ore.
Mrs. Nye's mother, a Mrs. Hughes, resides in the upper Kalama river district with a daughter, Maxine.
John Parsons was a bachelor whose home was just opposite the Carrolls store. He has two brothers, Sam, of Rose Valley and Ben of Stella. He resided at Carrolls practically all his life and at one time operated the store there. A sister, Mrs. T. L. Goss (sic), lives at Toledo, Ore.
Albert Unger was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Unger whose home fronts on the Pacific highway just north of Carrolls. A younger sister Pauline is at home.
Jane Poland was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Poland of Carrolls. Mr. Poland is the postmaster there. She was a graduate of Kelso high school in 1936 and widely known. Other survivors are a twin brother James who went to Spirit
lake Saturday and who was being sought there Sunday, and three sisters, Mrs. Esther Jones, of Lewis river district; Mrs. Ruth Ruthford of Sedro Wooley and Mrs. Mildred Edwards of Seattle.
Carrolls residents said that three cars of young people from that community met in Cathlamet. Dave Connell, son of the store proprietor drove his car, accompanied by Albert Unger. Connell had car trouble and suggested that if Unger wanted to be sure of getting home he go ahead with the Nyes. Connell got his car started and arrived at the scene of the accident a few minutes after it occurred to find Unger dead.
Art Ray of Carrolls drove the other car and also was at the scene of the wreck. It is reported that Nye passed him shortly before the accident.
Hundreds of persons visited the Tommy Edwards garage in Kelso on Sunday to view the wrecked car, which was a 1937 model car. As many as 50 persons were frequently in the garage at one time.
Funeral arrangements have not been completed for any of the victims excepting Jane Poland who will be buried Tuesday. All of the remains are at the Ditlevsen funeral home excepting the body of John Parsons, which is at the Steele funeral home in Longview."
This is the story of her untimely death.
Source: "The Daily News," newspaper; Longview, Cowlitz, Washington, Pages 1-2,28 Aug 1939. "Six Lives Snuffed Out In
Terrific Auto Smash
Coupe Carrying Carrolls Residents Rams Oak Point Bridge Sunday
Six Cathlamet celebrants, all residents of Carrolls, were killed, four of them instantly, in an Ocean Beach highway crash early Sunday morning in what is termed the worst single auto accident in Cowlitz county's history.
The fatal mishap occurred at Oak Point at 1:30 a. m. when the 1937 Dodge convertible coupe owned and driven by Dean Nye and bearing five other passengers was traveling at too high speed or, went out of control and without warning was
pitched with death-dealing impact into the abutment and concrete railing of the bridge over Mill creek almost directly in front of the two story Oak Point store, about 12 miles west of Longview on Ocean Beach highway.
The dead:Beryl Nye, 20.Dean Nye, 25.Mrs. Dean Nye, 16.
Albert Unger, 19.Jane Poland, 21.John Parsons, 53.
The party had attended the bridge celebration at Cathlamet and was driving east toward home when death and injury met them at the curve. Mr. and Mrs. Nye,Unger, and Miss Poland are believed to have died instantly. They were dead when
the first passing motorist arrived on the scene and sought to give aid. Parsons died en route to the hospital.
Beryl Nye, sister of Dean Nye, lived until 5:30 p. m. Sunday when she passed away in the Cowlitz General hospital.
The Mill creek bridge is at the bottom of a slight grade which terminates in a wide, sweeping curve. The fast driven Nye car crashed head-on into a left-handed abutment, catapulted or skidded about 15 feet and came to rest
directly across the bridgeway. It was completely demolished. There is a sheer drop down a rocky decline to the water of Mill creek below---(continued on Page 2, Column 1) Six Die When Coupe Smashed Into Bridge
(continued From page 1)
but the car did not take this plunge.
No Outcries Heard
A thunderous crash as steel hit concrete was apparently the only alarm sounded for Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Convis who reside in the apartments above the store and the store owner who was sleeping in a room to the rear of the first floor of the
building heard no outcries. In fact the sleepers did not hear the crash, so accustomed are they to traffic noises at that point, and their first intimation of disaster was when motorists who stopped their cars and gathered to aid,
pounded noisily on the store door seeking a telephone to summon aid.
A resident of a home on the bluff 200 to 300 yards east heard the crash. Passengers in oncoming cars also heard it. They recorded no cries which leads officers to believe the four occupants of the automobile found dead were killed
instantly and the two injured stunned or rendered unconscious.
Three in Each Seat
Mr. and Mrs. Nye, husband and wife, and Unger were riding in the front seat.Byrel Nye, Parsons and Miss Poland were in the rumble seat. The dead, dying,and injured were found jammed well forward and tightly wedged by the bent and
broken steel of the car body. Crowbars and other pries were necessary to extricate them from the debris. The driver was tightly pinned under the wheel and one door was removed before the body could be taken out.
At one point of the rescue efforts the heated engine of the car caught fire. It was extinguished with dirt. Traffic was stalled at both ends of the bridge until officers arrived. As soon as attention was given the occupants of the car, and dead and injured were removed, the car was dragged aside and traffic ordered to proceed.
Telephone Summon: Aid
The call for aid came by telephone to the sheriff's's office from the nearby store. A passerby, name unknown, called central and asked that ambulances, doctors and officers be sent. A. C. Beckham, night jailer in the Cowlitz county
jail, immediately dispatched Deputy Sheriff Hal DeWaide and Al Kuest of the Washington state patrol to the scene, meanwhile summoning ambulances, a doctor and other officers. The Steele ambulance and Dr. J. L. Norris of Longview
arrived at the disaster scene in a few minutes. Officers responding included Sheriff Carl Pritchard, Deputy John Price, Sergeant Abe Little, and Patrolman Bill Kellogg of the state patrol. The Ditlevsen funeral home ambulance was also sent and the Cathlamet fire department first aid emergency car in charge of Fire Chief Mitchell Doumit of Cathlamet made a quick run to the scene.
Marsh Investigates
Shirley Marsh, prosecuting attorney, arrived soon after the officers. He had returned from the bridge celebration a few minutes before summoned, and by a strange quirk of fate recalled he had conversed with those members of the party
in the ill-fated car with whom he was acquainted only a few minutes before he began his homeward journey. Investigation at the scene and inquiry made of officers and those first on the scene led the prosecutor to declare the accident
"due to too much speed." He had not determined on an inquest Monday and it is not likely one will be called.
Officers of the several law enforcement agencies here who investigated and checked the accident were as one in declaring the Nye crash the most appalling
and severe of any on record locally. They could recall at least three highway accidents in which four persons had lost their lives.
Curious Attracted to Scene
When daylight arrived and word of the wreck was learned curious persons began to wend their way to the scene. At times 50 or more were there at a time, and traffic across the bridge was forced to move slowly. This continued until
nightfall, according to E. A. Convis. Mrs. Convis aided in the rescue work Sunday morning by providing sheets and covering for the injured persons.
Residents of Carrolls were stunned by the news as word spread early Sunday morning of the tragedy. Many residents of the community commented on having
seen various members of the party at the Carrolls store early Saturday evening before the ill-fated trip to Cathlamet.
First word of the accident is believed to have been brought to Carrolls by Art Ray, driver of a car which accompanied the Nye party to the bridge celebration Saturday evening. Ray went to the home of Nye's parents and broke the news.
Mr. and Mrs. Nye resided in a two room cabin a few hundred yards from the highway on a side of the road at Carrolls. They have a son, Tommy, age 16 months, now in the care of the grandparents. Nye was employed at the Long-Bell log pond.
Nye's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Howard Nye, live in an adjoining house where Beyrl Nye also resided. Besides his parents, Nye and his sister are survived by a
brother Forrest, popularly known as Bill, by twin brothers, Bennie and Barney who left only a few days ago to go hop picking at Independence, Ore.
Mrs. Nye's mother, a Mrs. Hughes, resides in the upper Kalama river district with a daughter, Maxine.
John Parsons was a bachelor whose home was just opposite the Carrolls store. He has two brothers, Sam, of Rose Valley and Ben of Stella. He resided at Carrolls practically all his life and at one time operated the store there. A sister, Mrs. T. L. Goss (sic), lives at Toledo, Ore.
Albert Unger was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Unger whose home fronts on the Pacific highway just north of Carrolls. A younger sister Pauline is at home.
Jane Poland was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Poland of Carrolls. Mr. Poland is the postmaster there. She was a graduate of Kelso high school in 1936 and widely known. Other survivors are a twin brother James who went to Spirit
lake Saturday and who was being sought there Sunday, and three sisters, Mrs. Esther Jones, of Lewis river district; Mrs. Ruth Ruthford of Sedro Wooley and Mrs. Mildred Edwards of Seattle.
Carrolls residents said that three cars of young people from that community met in Cathlamet. Dave Connell, son of the store proprietor drove his car, accompanied by Albert Unger. Connell had car trouble and suggested that if Unger wanted to be sure of getting home he go ahead with the Nyes. Connell got his car started and arrived at the scene of the accident a few minutes after it occurred to find Unger dead.
Art Ray of Carrolls drove the other car and also was at the scene of the wreck. It is reported that Nye passed him shortly before the accident.
Hundreds of persons visited the Tommy Edwards garage in Kelso on Sunday to view the wrecked car, which was a 1937 model car. As many as 50 persons were frequently in the garage at one time.
Funeral arrangements have not been completed for any of the victims excepting Jane Poland who will be buried Tuesday. All of the remains are at the Ditlevsen funeral home excepting the body of John Parsons, which is at the Steele funeral home in Longview."
Jane is one of 4 siblings and was a twin to James.
This is the story of her untimely death.
Source: "The Daily News," newspaper; Longview, Cowlitz, Washington, Pages 1-2,28 Aug 1939. "Six Lives Snuffed Out In
Terrific Auto Smash
Coupe Carrying Carrolls Residents Rams Oak Point Bridge Sunday
Six Cathlamet celebrants, all residents of Carrolls, were killed, four of them instantly, in an Ocean Beach highway crash early Sunday morning in what is termed the worst single auto accident in Cowlitz county's history.
The fatal mishap occurred at Oak Point at 1:30 a. m. when the 1937 Dodge convertible coupe owned and driven by Dean Nye and bearing five other passengers was traveling at too high speed or, went out of control and without warning was
pitched with death-dealing impact into the abutment and concrete railing of the bridge over Mill creek almost directly in front of the two story Oak Point store, about 12 miles west of Longview on Ocean Beach highway.
The dead:Beryl Nye, 20.Dean Nye, 25.Mrs. Dean Nye, 16.
Albert Unger, 19.Jane Poland, 21.John Parsons, 53.
The party had attended the bridge celebration at Cathlamet and was driving east toward home when death and injury met them at the curve. Mr. and Mrs. Nye,Unger, and Miss Poland are believed to have died instantly. They were dead when
the first passing motorist arrived on the scene and sought to give aid. Parsons died en route to the hospital.
Beryl Nye, sister of Dean Nye, lived until 5:30 p. m. Sunday when she passed away in the Cowlitz General hospital.
The Mill creek bridge is at the bottom of a slight grade which terminates in a wide, sweeping curve. The fast driven Nye car crashed head-on into a left-handed abutment, catapulted or skidded about 15 feet and came to rest
directly across the bridgeway. It was completely demolished. There is a sheer drop down a rocky decline to the water of Mill creek below---(continued on Page 2, Column 1) Six Die When Coupe Smashed Into Bridge
(continued From page 1)
but the car did not take this plunge.
No Outcries Heard
A thunderous crash as steel hit concrete was apparently the only alarm sounded for Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Convis who reside in the apartments above the store and the store owner who was sleeping in a room to the rear of the first floor of the
building heard no outcries. In fact the sleepers did not hear the crash, so accustomed are they to traffic noises at that point, and their first intimation of disaster was when motorists who stopped their cars and gathered to aid,
pounded noisily on the store door seeking a telephone to summon aid.
A resident of a home on the bluff 200 to 300 yards east heard the crash. Passengers in oncoming cars also heard it. They recorded no cries which leads officers to believe the four occupants of the automobile found dead were killed
instantly and the two injured stunned or rendered unconscious.
Three in Each Seat
Mr. and Mrs. Nye, husband and wife, and Unger were riding in the front seat.Byrel Nye, Parsons and Miss Poland were in the rumble seat. The dead, dying,and injured were found jammed well forward and tightly wedged by the bent and
broken steel of the car body. Crowbars and other pries were necessary to extricate them from the debris. The driver was tightly pinned under the wheel and one door was removed before the body could be taken out.
At one point of the rescue efforts the heated engine of the car caught fire. It was extinguished with dirt. Traffic was stalled at both ends of the bridge until officers arrived. As soon as attention was given the occupants of the car, and dead and injured were removed, the car was dragged aside and traffic ordered to proceed.
Telephone Summon: Aid
The call for aid came by telephone to the sheriff's's office from the nearby store. A passerby, name unknown, called central and asked that ambulances, doctors and officers be sent. A. C. Beckham, night jailer in the Cowlitz county
jail, immediately dispatched Deputy Sheriff Hal DeWaide and Al Kuest of the Washington state patrol to the scene, meanwhile summoning ambulances, a doctor and other officers. The Steele ambulance and Dr. J. L. Norris of Longview
arrived at the disaster scene in a few minutes. Officers responding included Sheriff Carl Pritchard, Deputy John Price, Sergeant Abe Little, and Patrolman Bill Kellogg of the state patrol. The Ditlevsen funeral home ambulance was also sent and the Cathlamet fire department first aid emergency car in charge of Fire Chief Mitchell Doumit of Cathlamet made a quick run to the scene.
Marsh Investigates
Shirley Marsh, prosecuting attorney, arrived soon after the officers. He had returned from the bridge celebration a few minutes before summoned, and by a strange quirk of fate recalled he had conversed with those members of the party
in the ill-fated car with whom he was acquainted only a few minutes before he began his homeward journey. Investigation at the scene and inquiry made of officers and those first on the scene led the prosecutor to declare the accident
"due to too much speed." He had not determined on an inquest Monday and it is not likely one will be called.
Officers of the several law enforcement agencies here who investigated and checked the accident were as one in declaring the Nye crash the most appalling
and severe of any on record locally. They could recall at least three highway accidents in which four persons had lost their lives.
Curious Attracted to Scene
When daylight arrived and word of the wreck was learned curious persons began to wend their way to the scene. At times 50 or more were there at a time, and traffic across the bridge was forced to move slowly. This continued until
nightfall, according to E. A. Convis. Mrs. Convis aided in the rescue work Sunday morning by providing sheets and covering for the injured persons.
Residents of Carrolls were stunned by the news as word spread early Sunday morning of the tragedy. Many residents of the community commented on having
seen various members of the party at the Carrolls store early Saturday evening before the ill-fated trip to Cathlamet.
First word of the accident is believed to have been brought to Carrolls by Art Ray, driver of a car which accompanied the Nye party to the bridge celebration Saturday evening. Ray went to the home of Nye's parents and broke the news.
Mr. and Mrs. Nye resided in a two room cabin a few hundred yards from the highway on a side of the road at Carrolls. They have a son, Tommy, age 16 months, now in the care of the grandparents. Nye was employed at the Long-Bell log pond.
Nye's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Howard Nye, live in an adjoining house where Beyrl Nye also resided. Besides his parents, Nye and his sister are survived by a
brother Forrest, popularly known as Bill, by twin brothers, Bennie and Barney who left only a few days ago to go hop picking at Independence, Ore.
Mrs. Nye's mother, a Mrs. Hughes, resides in the upper Kalama river district with a daughter, Maxine.
John Parsons was a bachelor whose home was just opposite the Carrolls store. He has two brothers, Sam, of Rose Valley and Ben of Stella. He resided at Carrolls practically all his life and at one time operated the store there. A sister, Mrs. T. L. Goss (sic), lives at Toledo, Ore.
Albert Unger was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Unger whose home fronts on the Pacific highway just north of Carrolls. A younger sister Pauline is at home.
Jane Poland was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Poland of Carrolls. Mr. Poland is the postmaster there. She was a graduate of Kelso high school in 1936 and widely known. Other survivors are a twin brother James who went to Spirit
lake Saturday and who was being sought there Sunday, and three sisters, Mrs. Esther Jones, of Lewis river district; Mrs. Ruth Ruthford of Sedro Wooley and Mrs. Mildred Edwards of Seattle.
Carrolls residents said that three cars of young people from that community met in Cathlamet. Dave Connell, son of the store proprietor drove his car, accompanied by Albert Unger. Connell had car trouble and suggested that if Unger wanted to be sure of getting home he go ahead with the Nyes. Connell got his car started and arrived at the scene of the accident a few minutes after it occurred to find Unger dead.
Art Ray of Carrolls drove the other car and also was at the scene of the wreck. It is reported that Nye passed him shortly before the accident.
Hundreds of persons visited the Tommy Edwards garage in Kelso on Sunday to view the wrecked car, which was a 1937 model car. As many as 50 persons were frequently in the garage at one time.
Funeral arrangements have not been completed for any of the victims excepting Jane Poland who will be buried Tuesday. All of the remains are at the Ditlevsen funeral home excepting the body of John Parsons, which is at the Steele funeral home in Longview."
This is the story of her untimely death.
Source: "The Daily News," newspaper; Longview, Cowlitz, Washington, Pages 1-2,28 Aug 1939. "Six Lives Snuffed Out In
Terrific Auto Smash
Coupe Carrying Carrolls Residents Rams Oak Point Bridge Sunday
Six Cathlamet celebrants, all residents of Carrolls, were killed, four of them instantly, in an Ocean Beach highway crash early Sunday morning in what is termed the worst single auto accident in Cowlitz county's history.
The fatal mishap occurred at Oak Point at 1:30 a. m. when the 1937 Dodge convertible coupe owned and driven by Dean Nye and bearing five other passengers was traveling at too high speed or, went out of control and without warning was
pitched with death-dealing impact into the abutment and concrete railing of the bridge over Mill creek almost directly in front of the two story Oak Point store, about 12 miles west of Longview on Ocean Beach highway.
The dead:Beryl Nye, 20.Dean Nye, 25.Mrs. Dean Nye, 16.
Albert Unger, 19.Jane Poland, 21.John Parsons, 53.
The party had attended the bridge celebration at Cathlamet and was driving east toward home when death and injury met them at the curve. Mr. and Mrs. Nye,Unger, and Miss Poland are believed to have died instantly. They were dead when
the first passing motorist arrived on the scene and sought to give aid. Parsons died en route to the hospital.
Beryl Nye, sister of Dean Nye, lived until 5:30 p. m. Sunday when she passed away in the Cowlitz General hospital.
The Mill creek bridge is at the bottom of a slight grade which terminates in a wide, sweeping curve. The fast driven Nye car crashed head-on into a left-handed abutment, catapulted or skidded about 15 feet and came to rest
directly across the bridgeway. It was completely demolished. There is a sheer drop down a rocky decline to the water of Mill creek below---(continued on Page 2, Column 1) Six Die When Coupe Smashed Into Bridge
(continued From page 1)
but the car did not take this plunge.
No Outcries Heard
A thunderous crash as steel hit concrete was apparently the only alarm sounded for Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Convis who reside in the apartments above the store and the store owner who was sleeping in a room to the rear of the first floor of the
building heard no outcries. In fact the sleepers did not hear the crash, so accustomed are they to traffic noises at that point, and their first intimation of disaster was when motorists who stopped their cars and gathered to aid,
pounded noisily on the store door seeking a telephone to summon aid.
A resident of a home on the bluff 200 to 300 yards east heard the crash. Passengers in oncoming cars also heard it. They recorded no cries which leads officers to believe the four occupants of the automobile found dead were killed
instantly and the two injured stunned or rendered unconscious.
Three in Each Seat
Mr. and Mrs. Nye, husband and wife, and Unger were riding in the front seat.Byrel Nye, Parsons and Miss Poland were in the rumble seat. The dead, dying,and injured were found jammed well forward and tightly wedged by the bent and
broken steel of the car body. Crowbars and other pries were necessary to extricate them from the debris. The driver was tightly pinned under the wheel and one door was removed before the body could be taken out.
At one point of the rescue efforts the heated engine of the car caught fire. It was extinguished with dirt. Traffic was stalled at both ends of the bridge until officers arrived. As soon as attention was given the occupants of the car, and dead and injured were removed, the car was dragged aside and traffic ordered to proceed.
Telephone Summon: Aid
The call for aid came by telephone to the sheriff's's office from the nearby store. A passerby, name unknown, called central and asked that ambulances, doctors and officers be sent. A. C. Beckham, night jailer in the Cowlitz county
jail, immediately dispatched Deputy Sheriff Hal DeWaide and Al Kuest of the Washington state patrol to the scene, meanwhile summoning ambulances, a doctor and other officers. The Steele ambulance and Dr. J. L. Norris of Longview
arrived at the disaster scene in a few minutes. Officers responding included Sheriff Carl Pritchard, Deputy John Price, Sergeant Abe Little, and Patrolman Bill Kellogg of the state patrol. The Ditlevsen funeral home ambulance was also sent and the Cathlamet fire department first aid emergency car in charge of Fire Chief Mitchell Doumit of Cathlamet made a quick run to the scene.
Marsh Investigates
Shirley Marsh, prosecuting attorney, arrived soon after the officers. He had returned from the bridge celebration a few minutes before summoned, and by a strange quirk of fate recalled he had conversed with those members of the party
in the ill-fated car with whom he was acquainted only a few minutes before he began his homeward journey. Investigation at the scene and inquiry made of officers and those first on the scene led the prosecutor to declare the accident
"due to too much speed." He had not determined on an inquest Monday and it is not likely one will be called.
Officers of the several law enforcement agencies here who investigated and checked the accident were as one in declaring the Nye crash the most appalling
and severe of any on record locally. They could recall at least three highway accidents in which four persons had lost their lives.
Curious Attracted to Scene
When daylight arrived and word of the wreck was learned curious persons began to wend their way to the scene. At times 50 or more were there at a time, and traffic across the bridge was forced to move slowly. This continued until
nightfall, according to E. A. Convis. Mrs. Convis aided in the rescue work Sunday morning by providing sheets and covering for the injured persons.
Residents of Carrolls were stunned by the news as word spread early Sunday morning of the tragedy. Many residents of the community commented on having
seen various members of the party at the Carrolls store early Saturday evening before the ill-fated trip to Cathlamet.
First word of the accident is believed to have been brought to Carrolls by Art Ray, driver of a car which accompanied the Nye party to the bridge celebration Saturday evening. Ray went to the home of Nye's parents and broke the news.
Mr. and Mrs. Nye resided in a two room cabin a few hundred yards from the highway on a side of the road at Carrolls. They have a son, Tommy, age 16 months, now in the care of the grandparents. Nye was employed at the Long-Bell log pond.
Nye's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Howard Nye, live in an adjoining house where Beyrl Nye also resided. Besides his parents, Nye and his sister are survived by a
brother Forrest, popularly known as Bill, by twin brothers, Bennie and Barney who left only a few days ago to go hop picking at Independence, Ore.
Mrs. Nye's mother, a Mrs. Hughes, resides in the upper Kalama river district with a daughter, Maxine.
John Parsons was a bachelor whose home was just opposite the Carrolls store. He has two brothers, Sam, of Rose Valley and Ben of Stella. He resided at Carrolls practically all his life and at one time operated the store there. A sister, Mrs. T. L. Goss (sic), lives at Toledo, Ore.
Albert Unger was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Unger whose home fronts on the Pacific highway just north of Carrolls. A younger sister Pauline is at home.
Jane Poland was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Poland of Carrolls. Mr. Poland is the postmaster there. She was a graduate of Kelso high school in 1936 and widely known. Other survivors are a twin brother James who went to Spirit
lake Saturday and who was being sought there Sunday, and three sisters, Mrs. Esther Jones, of Lewis river district; Mrs. Ruth Ruthford of Sedro Wooley and Mrs. Mildred Edwards of Seattle.
Carrolls residents said that three cars of young people from that community met in Cathlamet. Dave Connell, son of the store proprietor drove his car, accompanied by Albert Unger. Connell had car trouble and suggested that if Unger wanted to be sure of getting home he go ahead with the Nyes. Connell got his car started and arrived at the scene of the accident a few minutes after it occurred to find Unger dead.
Art Ray of Carrolls drove the other car and also was at the scene of the wreck. It is reported that Nye passed him shortly before the accident.
Hundreds of persons visited the Tommy Edwards garage in Kelso on Sunday to view the wrecked car, which was a 1937 model car. As many as 50 persons were frequently in the garage at one time.
Funeral arrangements have not been completed for any of the victims excepting Jane Poland who will be buried Tuesday. All of the remains are at the Ditlevsen funeral home excepting the body of John Parsons, which is at the Steele funeral home in Longview."
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