Curious and Unusual Deaths Russell R. Winterbotham
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| Curious and Unusual Deaths |
From the Preface:
discovery that more persons die in bed than
from riding on trains.
However, one is inter- ested in deaths from train wrecks for that is an unusual way to have one's life end. Our interest is centered about curious things.
The more unusual it is the longer it is remembered.
The following pages contain a discussion of about 75 detailed cases and brief mention of nearly 170 other deaths and several close shaves.
There are many celebrated examples that have been purposely omitted because they
are probably already known to the reader or they are mentioned in other Little Blue Books.
An example is "Jack the Ripper" and his vic- tims, discussed in "Historic Crimes and Crimnals"
These are the stories one reads with interest in the daily newspapers. In several cases they are "the inside story" that was not printed in the papers. The author of this Little Blue
Book personally investigated some of the deaths as a newspaper reporter. Others were given
publicity in various newspapers and periodicals
Excerpts
Feuds. Feuds are not uncommon, even in
this day and age. A quarrel which had lasted
for generations between the Lovato and Me-
dina families at Dixon, New Mexico, flared up when the two families met at a country wed-
ding dance. In a gun battle three of the Me-
dina brothers were fatally wounded. Their
victors, three brothers, were held on a murder charge.
In Crossett, Arkansas, two well known and
highly respected citizens settled their differ- ences in the good old southern way, by shooting it out at close range. The duel occurred
in the heart of the city. Both men were killed and a bystander wounded in the neck. One man was said to have been paying too much
attention to the wife of the other.
Miscellaneous Deaths and Escapes. In a
southern town a youth became exhausted while
swimming in a large pool. He sank to the bottom where he gave himself a push to the
surface with his feet. When he reached the
top he would shout, "Help!" and take a deep
breath and repeat the process. After doing
this several times he attracted the attention of the life guard who rescued h
