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a. Note:   Frank was the youngest of 13 children. His mother was 43 whenshe gave birth to him. The Pendleton Town Hall exploded andburned one evening when he was there playing cards. He died 10days later at the age of 25. The obituary and newspaper articleare included here.Frank was more commonly known as "Turk" or "Wild Boy Turk." Hewas a daredevil - nothing was too fast or too dangerous for him.The family used to scold him for driving the car so fast - 35mph! He used to ride his horse "Old Tom" bareback and as fastas he could. This was according to Laura Mae Needler who washis niece - although they were almost the same age.He had medium dark hair and was covered with freckles.Frank and Myrtle lived in Pendleton, Indiana down the streetfrom what is now Pendleton Middle School (1997). Laura MaeNeedler Baxter visited them as they were moving in. Shecommented that the first thing they set up was the bed. Whenteased he answered, "Laura Mae, ain't you been married longenough to know that's a workbench?"Laura Mae and Myrtle both say that Frank was a bit spoiled. Hewas the youngest of 13 children - almost all girls who waited onhim hand and foot. Apparently he was a typical man of thetimes. When his daughter Charlotte would fall while learning towalk, he would yell at Myrtle - even if she were in another partof the house.Laura Mae has no idea why the family lost contact with Charlottebut is sure she was better off without them. She said most ofthe aunts were forceful personalities that "were always stickingtheir noses where they didn't belong!"The marriage application and license obtained from theGreenfield Court House showed that he had been married oncebefore. Laura Mae Needler says she was a very pretty girl bythe name of Lydia Mae Lolvey. Laura Mae thinks they divorcedbecause they had to live with her parents in Oaklandon which puta strain on the marriage. There were no children. No one knowswhat became of Lydia.The Pendleton TimesThursday, January 16, 1936Explosion and Fire Wreck Town HallTown Board in Session - Five Dead - Many Others in HospitalThursday evening, January 9, Pendleton was going about itsnormal business and taking up the ordinary and special dutiesand pleasures of a winter evening. A special meeting was inprogress at the Methodist Church. It was the night for theregular meeting of the Town Board which met as usual in the TownHall. About the usual number of people were in the room below,many were meeting for social chat, some for warmth and lodging,some just to kill time. Not all the usual number had yetarrived. The Board had already begun the transaction ofbusiness, the secretary and four members being present and hadappointed Enoch Frey to fill the vacancy caused by the death ofBert Cole, the veteran member of the board. Mister Frey hadbeen notified, and was on his way to the hall. Others were dueto arrive at any moment. Irvin Taylor, one of the men below, dropped his spectaclesthrough a grating in the floor, and went below to search forthem, using an electric searchlight. Garland Brookbank, townmarshal, advised him to look in the old abandoned cistern in thebasement, and Taylor removed its cover. At this moment,Brookbank struck a match - a tremendous explosion followed. It shook the town, was felt and heard for blocks. The end andside of the first story of the Hall blew outward; the floor ofthe second story and its roof jumped, and then all cascaded intothe wreck below, where the more than a dozen men were at themercy of the wreckage, and the fire was immediately started fromthe two heating stoves at the bottom of the debris. Work of rescue began immediately, and the less injured were soonfreed. Every man in the upper room was covered with wreckage.William Longtoft, President of the Board; Frank Silver, BoardMember and Fire Chief; George Calvert and Arlie Hensley, newlyelected members attending their first meeting, and HowardWalker, Town Clerk. Silver was held by the wreckage and nearthe fire. Earl Fowler, custodian of Falls Park, familiar withthe Town Hall, hurried to the place at the first alarm and withhelp, got a section of fire hose from the storage room andattached it to the nearest fire plug. They soon had a streamplaying on the fire that had, by this time, reached Silver andwere successful in partially checking it until Silver wasextricated. Removal of some of the wreckage holding him and theuse of a rope around his body feeling, he said afterwards, likeit was pulling him apart, enabled his rescuers to get him out,but not until his foot was badly burned. But for this stream ofwater, he would have died by fire. This stream was used to thebest advantage possible until the arrival of the Anderson FireDepartment, which promptly responded to the SOS call andprobably without this check probably several others taken outalive would have burned. There was no lack of help. Soon everyable bodied man helped to he utmost. Others were ever ready tofill the places of those driven out by the heat and smoke. Afew of whom did not retreat soon enough and joined the ranks ofthose needing help. It was not know how many were in the lowerroom and as man after man was removed, no one could answer thegeneral question, "How many more?" But the word waspersistently repeated, "IrvinTaylor is still in there." He was.Three dead were taken out: two transients and a trusty from theReformatory. The injured were hurried to the Anderson Hospitalas they were removed - the ambulance having promptly arrivedfrom the neighboring towns to assist the local Davis and Sloaneambulances- all of which were kept busy for a time. The rush atthe hospital made it necessary to leave some of the injured inthe corridors until places could be prepared and service given,but the delay was never long.Traffic on the Indiana Railroad was suspended for hours, thestreet being blocked by the hose lines. Interurban headlightswere used to light the rescuers, the lighting service havingbeen broken at the time of the explosion. The traction mengave every assistance they could, and were of real service.Of course the Pendleton Fire Department was "out," both engineswere in the room underneath which the explosion occurred, andwere buried in the wreckage, one having dropped into thebasement. Three members of the department, including the Chief,were victims. But for the help of the Anderson Department, asmany as half a dozen more lives would have been lost.The Pendleton Water Works demonstrated its usefulness. Withoutthis water the supply, the fire would have taken everything asit took the utmost effort of both rescue engines to hold thefire in check. It was impossible to extinguish it until it hadpractically burned itself out. But, the burning wascomparatively slow and the fire in the wreckage was subdued soas to allow the rescuers to search fully. The streams wereturned on the fire in the part of the building still standing,and all of the south section of the building saved. It can bestated without contradiction that the Pendleton Water Works had"paid" for itself in this one fire. The lives saved are not tobe compared to the water works and we still have them both.Turk Eakes, one of the badly injured, was taken into thebuilding across the street until ambulance service could be had.Others were loaded directly into waiting ambulances and were atthe hospital a few minutes afterwards. Red Cross and Rescueservice went on as though previously organized for the occasion,after the first half hour. Following the explosion it is hardto see how things could have been more fortunately managed thanthey were. William Longtoft, Raymond Cory and Everett Brattainwere very severely injured also. Howard Walker, Town Clerk, andGarland Brookbank, Marshal, were badly hurt, all of the abovebecoming acute hospital cases. Those suffering minor injurieswere Fred Lund, Arlie Hensley, George Calvert, Guy H. Kelsey ofIndianapolis, Homer Thomas and Roy Mills, night police who werejust entering the building at the time.Irvin Taylor the fourth to be taken out dead was found in thebasement across from where the explosion occurred pinnedunderneath a slab of concrete. His body having been underseveral feet of water. It was thought possible that he haddrowned but the absence of water in the lungs indicated thatdeath was instantaneous. His body was recovered about 3 a.m.Friday morning. The other dead were Frank Wapiniek, reformatorybus driver, Clarence Campbell of Kentucky whose family is wellknown by Reverend Caddy and an unidentified transient. EverettBrattain was added to this list Sunday night making a total offive dead. It was at first reported that, among other injuries,William Longtoft had suffered a punctured lung. But, a few dayslater, it was learned that was an error. Word from the hospitalthis morning continued the cheering word that all the men weredefinitely improving. The two fire engines are a total loss, almost worthless even asjunk iron. Their picture is shown on another page. The totalloss is estimated at between 20 and 25 thousand dollars - onlypartially insured. There is decided public opinion againstrebuilding the Town Hall on the same site though the FireDepartment housing will be restored. It is likely that abuilding will be secured elsewhere as a Town Hall, not subjectto any other hazards. Of course that old cistern will be filledand abandoned which should have been done when its day ofusefulness was over. Some have proposed that it might bepossible to get help for building a new town hall through thePWA. Others oppose this because of the restrictions imposed andalso because of the certain long delay.January 9 is the darkest day in the history of Pendleton. Maythere never be another to approach it. While we lament the lossof life and the far lesser loss of property we shall rememberwith pride and gratitude how promptly and well our townsmen andneighboring towns responded and gave every help possible. TheFire Department gives hearty thanks to all those who assisted sopromptly and heroically. Three members of the force wereimprisoned in the ruins and both engines buried. Without promptand heroic help several more lives would have undoubtedly beenlost. For the time, Pendleton had no Fire Department. EarlFowler figured prominently in the help. He having the presenceof mind to get the fire hose from the storage room and get astream playing on the fire. Even with that check, the fireburned Frank Silver before he could be extricated. The stream,then used where most needed, partially checked the fire untilmore help arrived.Many VisitorsHundreds from the surrounding country came Thursday night to seethe fire, and the stream of sightseers continued throughoutFriday and Saturday. Sunday, however, saw the real crowds. Fromearly forenoon until night there was a continued traffic jam.Taking advantage of the spring-like day, they came from all overthe state, and other states as well. It is estimated that morethan twenty thousand visited the scene that day.It Paid to be LateFour of our people failed to arrive at the Board meeting lastThursday night in time to be victims. Dr. O.W. Brownback,health officer, was due with his report; Judge Mays, TownAttorney, was finishing a bit of pastime elsewhere: Enoch Frey,newly appointed board member, was on his way to the hall; andRoy Mills, night police, was just ready to enter the building.All of these can thank their stars and whatever other luckyspirits attend, that they were not on time that particularnight. It is probable that others than these would have been inthe building had the explosion occurred fifteen minutes later.So, there is much to be thankful for, even in the gloom of thetragedy. But, Dr. Brownback informs us that he was in no danger, despitethe frantic worry of his folks, and the many telephone inquiriesfrom over the state. As is his usual custom, he had filled hisreport some days before.Blast Claims Fifth VictimThe fifth person to die from the blast was Everitt Brattain, age44, farmer residing a mile north of Alfont, the father of sixchildren. His death occurred early Tuesday at St. JohnsHospital. Mr. Brattain came to Pendleton last Thursday onbusiness and was in the town hall chatting with friends when theblast let go.He was caught under falling debris and walls and badly burned.His left leg was burned almost off. He was pinned two hoursbefore being rescued. Brattain suffered third degree burns ofboth legs and complications developed.


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