Elk County KS Archives News.....Death As Result Of Accident January 6, 1921
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L Morgan blueduck3248@totelcsi.com July 27, 2007, 10:55 am

Howard Courant January 6, 1921
SHERIFF FRANK BLIZARD KILLED BY EXPLOSION OF NITROGLYCERINE WHEN HE DROVE HIS 
CAR INTO THE CREEK

In our last week's issue we could only give a brief mention of the terrible 
accident which caused the death of Sheriff Frank Blizard as this paper was 
already on the press when word came to town. The facts as ascertained are 
about as follows:

Sheriff Frank Blizard had taken some papers to serve on parties east of 
Howard, the January term of the District Court coming on the following 
Monday.  He went to the Kimzey Garage and got his Ford car and immediately 
after noon went by the filling station and took on oil and gas, and talked 
briefly with Will Beaty and then started out of town by the northeast road 
which crosses PawPaw a quarter of a mile from the corner of the townsite.  W. 
B. Mayne and grandson, who were working a short distance from the bridge, 
heard a terrific explosion and at once hurried to the bridge, and saw the 
wreck of a badly torn-up Ford car scatter the water under the bridge.  Water 
around and the body of a man in from the stream was thrown all around and up 
on the roadway on top of the bridge,  The alarm soon spread and several 
parties hurried to the scene and the body was recognized as that of Sheriff 
Blizard.  Coroner J. F. Costello and County Attorney Clifford Sullivan were at 
once summoned and were at the scene of the disaster within a few minutes.  The 
body was taken from the water and brought to town and cared for at the Ransom 
undertaking rooms.  Examination disclosed that several bones of the limbs were 
broken and the back part of the head was almost blown away. Death of course 
had been instantaneous.

It was a matter of curiosity to many that the Sheriff should have driven his 
car under the bridge, but that was at once explained by those who knew his 
custom of driving his car into the stream at that place every time he passed 
that way to wash the wheels, the creek bed being smooth flat rock bottom at 
that point. Many others have for all time been in the habit of doing the same 
thing, and several parties who have ridden out with Sheriff Blizard testify 
that he almost invariably drove his car under the bridge as the roadway was 
easy of descent into the water.  He would drive in where the water was six or 
eight inches deep and run the car forward and backward till the wheels were 
clean and thoroughly soaked up.  On this fatal trip, he had undoubtedly driven 
his car onto a bottle of nitro glycerine which had been dumped into the creek 
from the bridge by some passing yeggman or safe-blower.  It was at first 
suggested by a few that the Sheriff may have had some dynamite or giant powder 
in his car, as part of two sticks of unexploded dynamite were found near the 
car.  But further investigation proved reasonably well, that this could not 
have been the case, as no reason could been given why he should have any such 
explosives in his possession.  Before the inquest was held the following day, 
Co. Attorney Sullivan sent to Moline and had S. Prewitt, the experienced 
explosive man of the Solvay Process Co., to come up and examine the premises 
and conditions.  Mr. Prewitt is a man of 30 years experience with handling all 
kinds of high explosives and his opinion should have the highest weight.  He 
also tesified before the inquest Friday, and the gist of his theory is that 
the explosion was caused by a small quantity of nitro gylcerine in a bottle or 
package, and that the Sheriff's car had exploded it while he was driving in 
the creek.  The hind wheel of the car shows plainly that the explosion took 
place directly under it, and the conditons of the fragments of the car plainly 
show the same.  Mr. Prewitt's testimony and his conversations with the 
officers showed that he knew his business and had great weight in fixing in 
the minds of the people the facts of the unfortunate affair.

Friday forenoon a formal inquest was held by Cornoner J. F. Costello and 
County Attorney Sullivan and nothing was learned or brought out that would 
change the above surmise.  Sheriff Blizard's home life was known to be the 
most happy, he had not an enemy in the world, and his daily demeanor and 
intimacy with his dearest friends and associates never disclosed that he had a 
thing in the world to worry him or suggest that anyone should have a hatred or 
spite against him.

With the positive assurance that the explosion was caused by nitro-glycerine 
which had been in the water, for at least four hours, (a fact established by 
the condition of the dynamite found) previous to Mr. Blizard driving in the 
creek, a coroner's jury composed of F. L. Dobyns, A. W. Goodwin, Frank 
Boulton, W. W. Barackman, Felix Hottinger, and L. B. Fleak, returned the 
following verdict, which is both just and popular:

The jurors upon their oaths, do say that Frank Blizard came to his death 
accidentally on the 30th day of December 1920, by striking a quantity of high 
explosive, in all probability nitro glycerine which was secreted on the rocks 
at the bottom of PawPaw creek under the bridge spanning said creek, one half 
mile northeast of Howard, Kansas.

And signed by each juror.

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