Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

An angry mob gathered around an ambulance crew and accused them of injuring the two motorcyclists they were trying to treat.

It happened at about 6 p.m. on Main Avenue. The ambulance was rushing to a different accident and the motorcyclists were heading the same direction on Main. Somehow, the ambulance and motorcycle collided, sending the two men on the motorcycle skidding for 40 feet.

The ambulance men were attending to the motorcyclists when a crowd gathered around from nearby stores and streetcars. One man, described as “uninformed,” loudly accused the ambulance men of causing the accident by failing to sound their horn. Incited by this man, the crowd shouted at and jostled the ambulance men until two police detectives forced their way to the middle of the crowd and came to their rescue.

Witnesses disagreed about how the accident happened and police were still investigating. However, the ambulance driver was clearly distressed, and was actually consoled by one of the injured men, who told him that he had once “occupied the same position.”

The two motorcyclists suffered lacerations and cuts. The man who started the ruckus by yelling at the ambulance drivers was arrested on a charge of drunkenness.