PLAYS WITH MOTOR, BOY KILLED
Child Presses Button Which Starts Car and Playmate is Crushed.
From the New York Press.
In the same manner that 4—year—old Elizabeth Johnson was killed in Renwick street two days before, William Keating, 5, met death beneath a driverless motor truck in front of his home, 101 West Ninety—eighth street.
The truck which ended the boy’s life was of the electric type, the machinery of which was started by children playing about it while the driver was away, just as in the case of the Johnson girl.
Following the death the police arrested Walter Rodgers, the chauffeur, on the charge of abandoning his car. Rodgers had shut off the current and was making a delivery a few doors away from the Keating home. There is a slight incline in the street there. A youngster, whom the police have not found, jumped to the driver’s seat, pressed a button which started the motor and the car was on its way. As it started the boy jumped from the seat and ran.
Gaining force as it sped along, the car was upon Keating before companions could call out a warning. The heavy wheels knocked the boy down and crushed his head against the curbstone. He died in a few minutes.
The car continued on its way, swerved across the street and finally was halted against a lamp-post 100 feet from where it had started.
Source: “Plays With Motor, Boy Killed”, The Washington Post, Washington, Distroct of Columbia, 31 August 1915, p. 6.