Spencer Heath Archive

Item 1208

Carbon of letter to The Farm Bureau Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, Baltimore, Maryland, from Heath at 605 West 112th Street, New York City

April 16, 1935

Gentlemen:

I am sorry to have to report a collision which occurred about seven P.M. on last Friday the 16th at Rahway, New Jersey. When driving into the entrance to a newly estab­lished Sunoco gasoline station my car came to an abrupt stop against an unseen obstruction. On backing away I found a low tree stump which the attendant said had been left by the State Department of Forestry. It was raining and the stump was dark and glistening much the same as the broken stone of the driveway surrounding it so it was almost invisible in the artificial light of the gasoline station. The stump was not very high above the surface of the roadway but being just on the far side of the gutter or slight depression along what had formerly been the curb line, it was high enough to engage the front side of the case that houses the knee-action device on the right-hand side and bring the car to a dead stop. The cross member supporting the king pins was bent and pushed back and the frame buckled at its point of attachment. I had with me two guests, Mr. and Mrs. Clifford H. Kendal of 29 Bellevue Avenue, Summit, New Jersey, whom I was returning to their home after a visit to me in Maryland. We were able to proceed to Summit where I spent the night and had the car repaired by the Summit Buick Company as per the enclosed receipted bill for #42.00 which they forwarded to my temporary address in New York as given above.

The gasoline station was exclusively “Sunoco” in their customary blue color and decoration but without any name in view. The attendant refused to give the name of owner or manager, but there was a sign reading, “Fuel License 1101 J New Jersey.”

My car is 1934 Pontiac Four Door Sedan, Motor Number, 1043228, Serial Number, 891149, Policy Number, 661-868, Home Address, Elkridge, Maryland.

Very truly yours,

SH:M                                  Spencer Heath