Stay updated with breaking news from Clyde haskins. Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.
April 9, 1921 Clem C. Bandell, 52, and Clyde Haskins of Grand Rapids, were killed when the Chevrolet FB car driven by Bandell went through the guard rail at the south approach to the long bridge over the west cove of Lake Cadillac last evening. Two other passengers, William Daggett and Ray Wilson, who were riding in the rear seat with Bandell, were uninjured although Daggett suffered some bruises and both men were dazed from their experience. The machine was travelling at an excessive rate of speed according to drivers of other cars who were passed by Bandell on his way around the boulevard. Chief of Police Harris was making his evening round of the lake to caution speeders and was near the Drury farm when the Bandell car came up from the rear and went past so fast, Mr. Harris said, that the car was out of sight around the next curve before the chief could see what make of car or who was driving. Mr. Harris followed in the wake of the car to get the license number and had just come within sight of the long bridge when he saw the planks of the bridge railing hurled through the air and he knew an accident had occurred. He was at the scene of the disaster within two minutes after the car took the fatal plunge. Clyde and Frank Hawkins were driving a load of baled hay and were near the bridge when the car skidded through the rail. Clyde Hawkins said the machine broke through the railing and the left side dropped into the water. Together with the Hawkins brothers Chief Harris extracted Mr. Bandell from the wreckage of the car and the railing planks. The injured man was lifted to the bridge where he groaned a few times and died. Haskins was still alive and was bleeding profusely from the mouth, nose and ears. He was taken in the police car to Mercy Hospital and was conscious all the way in. He realized he was injured badly and told Mr. Harris that he was nearly "all in." He died about an hour after he reached the hospital. William Daggett, one of the passengers in the car which went through the railing, said today that the dead driver was making the fastest time he had ever seen an automobile go. "We went so fast it took my breath away," said Mr. Daggett, "but I could not see the speedometer from where I was sitting." Mr. Bandell had apparently tried to stop the car when he saw he could not make the sharp turn onto the bridge, as the marks of the tires were plainly seen on the wet planking of the bridge. The car was travelling north at the bridge and hit the rail about 20 feet from the south end, tearing away about 80 feet of railing, before it finally tipped over and fell on its side in about four feet of water.