YOUNG MAN DIES; WRECK VICTIM
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Victor Neeley, Son of Policeman, Succumbs.
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TWO MEN GIVE UP
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Rock Hill Pair Claim Seriousness of Crash Not Known to Them.
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Two men surrendered late last night to Sheriff T. A. Heise, admitting they occupied the automobile which Wednesday night ran into and killed Victor E. Neeley, 25, son of a Richland county policeman, on the Bluff road as the young man's truck had stalled in the flooded highway.
They said they came to Columbia as soon as they learned of Neeley's death and that they had no idea that anyone had been seriously hurt by the accident.
They gave their names as Clarence Hicklin and Craig Garrison, both of Rock Hill. Calling Sheriff Heise at his home, they made an appointment with him and surrendered to him a short time later to him and County Policeman Crossland at the Columbia Union station. They were lodged in the Richland county jail this morning, pending the outcome of the coroner's inquest, the date for which has not been set by Coroner W. A. McCain.
Neeley was killed almost instantly and his body lost for several hours in the Congaree river back waters flowing over the road near Childs, below Columbia, when the light car struck him after it had plunged into his two brothers, witnesses said, and smashed three motor cars held up by the high water.
His brothers--George and Trez--were knocked to one side of the highway and the dead man to the other. George Neeley had attempted to flag the automobile down with a red lantern and was injured as the car swept by him.
Three Cars Hit.
An automobile driven by W. F. Williamson, 1612 Green street, had stopped at George's signal a few minutes before and was the first to be struck. The crashing auto then hit a truck belonging to a man named Dawson, which had come to the aid of the Neeley boys, and finally the Neeley car.
The body was found in waist-deep water shortly before 3 o'clock yesterday morning by a searching party, which included Sheriff Heise, County Policeman Crossland and Wade Rawlinson and R. P.Rawl. Earlier in the night the sheriff and his officers, including this time Policeman Eleazer, had been to the scene.
Hooks furnished by the Columbia highway department were used by the searchers. A hole, several inches long, was gashed into Neeley's head on the right side, and death came, it is believed, from this cause. Comparatively little water had entered his lungs. George received a broken arm and leg and is in the Baptist hospital for treatment. The other brother, Trez, is at his Lykesland home suffering from a number of smashed ribs.
The son of County Policeman E. V. Neeley and son-in-law of City Policeman C. B. Dreher, Neeley will be buried this morning following funeral services in the Dunbar Funeral home at 11 o'clock. The Rev. P. D. Brown, pastor of Ebenezer Lutheran church, will officiate, and the interment will be in Elmwood cemetery.
Hauling Cotton.
Neeley was hauling cotton from plantations near Lykesland to Columbia warehouses and was returning to his home for the last load to be brought to the city yesterday morning. Supplies for the planters were on the truck at the time of the accident.
Believing that he could run through a short stretch of water covering the road, he drove the truck in but the engine went dead and the car stopped. A man on the truck with Neeley was sent to fetch George and Trez, who returned with the Dawson truck. The fatal accident occurred shortly afterward as the men were endeavoring to extricate the truck.
Had he lived until October 17, he would have been married to Miss Kattie M. Dreher for four years. One child, a boy, Charles Melton Neeley, two, survives, as do large connections in Richland county.
Surviving in the immediate family are his parents, Mr. and Mrs. E. V. Neeley of Lykesland; seven sisters, Mrs. James S. Reid of Columbia and Miss Gussie Lee Neeley, Miss Janie Belle Neeley, Miss Doris Neeley, Miss Sadie Neeley; Miss Bessie Neeley, all of Lykesland; and five brothers, J. U. Neeley of Columbia, Robert Neeley of Columbia, and Trez Neeley, George Neeley and Clayton Neeley, all of Lykesland.
--from The State, Columbia, S. C., Friday, 4 October 1929