Harlan C. Petro (1960)
PETRO
Posted By: Ida Morse (email)
Date: 2/27/2007 at 22:42:29
Winterset Madisonian
Winterset, Iowa
Wednesday, December 21, 1960ELECTRIC SHOCK FATAL TO BABY
Contact With Current in Clothes Drier Causes Death at Earlham
A 30-month-old Earlham boy died last Friday as result of an electric shock received from a home made clothes drier, at his home.
The baby was Harlan C. Petro, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Petro of Earlham. He was playing on the porch beside the drier, which had been made by his father, using an old washing machine, and an electric heating units, resembling a burner from an electric stove.
Dr. Paul Eggleston, Madison county coroner investigated the accident. He said that the boy poked a wet stick through the door, touching an electrical contact in the heating unit. The stick acted as a conductor for the charge of electricity.
The shock rendered the baby unconscious. He died enroute to a physician’s office.
In addition to his parents, the little boy is survived by three brothers and two sisters.
Funeral services were held Monday from Fisher’s Funeral home in Adel.
________________________Earlham Echo
Earlham, Iowa
Thursday, December 22, 1960Services Held For Little Harlan Petro
Funeral services were held Monday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. for little Harlan Petro, 2½, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Petro, at the Fisher Funeral Home at Adel.
While the little boy was playing Friday afternoon, he poked a stick against the contacts of a clothes drier.
According to Dr. Paul Eggleston there was enough moisture in the stick that it conducted electricity and shocked the boy into unconsciousness.
The youngster died en route to the doctor’s office, not of electrocution, but a sort of injury “shock” that involves blood draining from the head, Dr. Eggleston explained.
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Madison Obituaries maintained by Linda Griffith Smith.
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