Charlotte Observer, Friday
Leaning too far out of a window at the Holtel charlotte to adjust a flower pot on the window sill, Mrs. A.A. Barron, wife of a prominent Charlotte physician, fell from the tenth floor of the hotel to the roof of the marquee over the Trade street entrance to the hotel and on through to the sidewalk pavement—and escaped death!
Marvelously, she was found, on examination at the Charlotte sanatorium, where she was rushed for treatment, not to have any broken bones. Though suffering from shock, she did not lose consciousness by the fall and remained conscious throughout the period of examination at the hospital and on through the evening.
Death Cheated
The explanation of why a fall from the tenth floor of the hotel did not cause instant death was that the glass or marquee over the sidewalk, the length of the sidewalk, is covered by a wire mesh. The mesh is composed of wires of considerable thickness, capable of holding up the weight of 350 pounds or more, it is estimated. The mesh is at least 15 inches above the opaque glass of the marquee.
The impact of the falling body on this mesh was enough to break it through and also to break through the glass covering of the marquee. This left the weight of the body to fall upon a strong iron cross arm, and this was badly bent.
The crash when the marquee roof broke through attracted the attention in the vicinity of the hotel and a crowd rushed forward. Mrs. H.L. McClaren, who lives on the ninth floor of the hotel and who is a close friend of Mrs. Barron, ran from the hotel lobby and was the first woman to reach her side it was said. W.W. Norman, a traveling salesman from Mooresville, standing in the door of Perry’s Drug store in the hotel building, and W.D. Shepherd, a barber from a shop adjoining the hotel, were also by her side in a moment, while another man, A. Mack, a traveling man of Philadelphia, summoned an ambulance from the Auto inn, on the Poplar street side of the hotel.
Mrs. Barron was still conscious when Mrs. McClaren reached her and explained to her, according to Mrs. McClaren that she was leaning out the window to adjust a pot of flowers when she lost her balance and fell. Mrs. McClaren accompanied the injured woman to the Charlotte sanatorium.
The sensation of the spectacular fall was accentuated when word came back from the hospital that an examination showed no bones were broken and that the patient had not lost consciousness. The crowd that gathered had supposed the fall from the tenth story—an estimated distance of 145 feet would prove fatal.
Viewed from the window, out of which Mrs. Barron fell, it was evident to those how studied the situation that she might easily have lost her balance by leaning on the window sill while holding the heavy box of earth and flower seeds in her hand, the weight of the flower box overbalancing her and tilting her body through the window when her foot slipped, as she said, on the carpet. It was possible, also, to see that one of the guy wires holding one of the two flag poles in place between windows on the front or Trade street side of the building had been in the line of fall and had probably, as one or two eye-witnesses testified, been the means of breaking the force of the fall to some extent.
One ScreamP> There was only one scream or outcry incident to the tragedy by-standers said. A woma who was sitting in a parked automobile in front of the hotel was reported to have uttered a shrill cry of terror as the body of the falling woman hurled through the air, through marquee roof and to the pavement.
W.D. Shepherd, standing in the barber shop door, said the body turned over several times, probably due, he said to be being deflected slightly by striking the guy wire.
Dr. and Mrs. Barron were residents of the Hotel Charlotte, having been there since their marriage about a year ago. Mrs. Barron was Miss Alice B. Kiser of Charlotte before here marriage. She is secretary-treasurer of one of the Delphian chapters of Charlotte.
Dr. Barron was notified of the accident at his office and reached the hospital a few minutes after the ambulance. Attending physicians, after examination, said that while Mrs. Barron’s condition was serious it was hopeful because of the absence of broken bones and evidence of internal injury.
The news of the tragedy spread rapidly throughout the city and soon became the chief topic of discussion on the streets, in hotel lobbies, cafes, offices and elsewhere. From early evening until late at night there were frequent inquiries by telephone to The Observer office, numerous persons calling to ask the latest information as to Mrs. Barron’s condition.
A later examination by doctors showed four ribs broken and a fracture of one of the bones in the pelvis, but these are not serious and will heal soon. Otherwise, Mrs. Barron appears not to be seriously injured, except by shock.
From page 9 of the Messenger and Intelligencer, Wadesboro, N.C., May 20, 1926
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