Happy Friday All! Or… Maybe Not… This week was not too bad though. Only one or two current freak accidents. Very good news for all and it encouraged me to look up some from the past, of which there are many. One of them in particular comes to you today from the archives of Old Jacksonville himself and if you ever think that simply standing on the roof of a building is harmless… Read this testimony from 1941 and think again.
Quoted story from John W. Cowart’s book Heroes All – A History of Firefighting in Jacksonville, Fl. John W. Cowart. Bluefish Books 2008.
In the cold night of December 12, 1941, close to midnight, Pvt. O.Conner guarded the bridge approach from the roof of the Educator Biscuit Co. The Florida Times-Union newspaper reported: From out of the sky, without warning, an automobile fell on top of Pvt. O’Conner. No wailing siren. No blazing searchlight. No ack-ack of protecting artillery. No Zeros, no dive-bombers… Just, KA-BAM! All of a sudden Pvt. O.C. O’Conner was under a car. The good news was that he suffered only a broken ankle. Firemen from Station Five on Riverside Avenue responded as did military and police units. When all was sorted out, it was determined that Pvt. O’Conner’s post on the roof of the biscuit company overlooked the vital railroad tracks. His post lay 13 feet below the roadway of the viaduct and in a straight line from the bridge roadway. A drunk driver, an insurance salesman from Marietta, Ga., drove straight off through the T, crashed through fence and guardrail, sailed through the air and landed on all four wheels right on top of the unsuspecting guard. The belligerent drunk fought first responders but was overwhelmed and jailed on a number of charges. At dawn, military and civil authorities increased security about vital targets such as Jacksonville’s hospitals, power plants, schools, bridges, shipyards and railroads. A fresh guard was stationed atop the Educator Biscuit Company. Such precautions proved necessary.
pg. 93 Heroes All – A History of Firefighting in Jacksonville, Fl. John W. Cowart. Bluefish Books 2008.
Pretty wild. That soldier had a good story to tell after that huh?
It does seem Jacksonville, Florida and Florida in general will always produce some good and freakishly interesting stories. If I’m ever at a loss I will be sure to tap this source again lol! Here’s another, more recent freak accident from the city of Jacksonville. Warning – This is some graphic content. But first I ask you this: Why on Earth would anyone eat anything laying out on a table at a strip club? WHY??? Do you know where it’s been? What’s been on it? In it? Sometimes people just don’t learn until it’s too late… Then you may wish you had brought an umbrella to shield you from the shit storm…
Man that is nasty… So we will move on to cleaner things…
Like clean justice, revenge, kismet or whatever you may want to call what happened to the lady in this next story. Of course it was a freak accident but what made it incredibly uncanny is that it almost seemed as if the tree had asserted some sort of revenge on the human. Feast your eyes on this very strange story of a coconut palm’s revenge that occurred this week in Mumbai India.
Coconuts. Cool, white, milky fresh coconuts… As opposed of course to some fiery, hot, dry and powdery spice like cinnamon. When it comes to food we humans like to do many things with it and not all of those things involve actually eating it. This young Danish man was having quite a bit of fun playing with his food. Until it spontaneously combusted all over him that is. Yes, according to the history of the ancient tradition an event like this had never happened before and they still are not quite sure what caused it. Check out this article and video of this freak accident which happened in Denmark and maybe you can discover what set this young man’s heart afire…
Ima wrap it up with that one y’all. Here’s to a wonderful, spontaneously fiery, coconut bangin’, buffet eatin’ and flying cars kinda week! Until next time… Be Safe Out There.