Iowa
Old Press
Evening Courier & Reporter
Waterloo, Black Hawk co. Iwa
June 28, 1920
Victim of Landslide at McGregor Park
Collapse of a cliff beneath which Miss Ruth Donna Miller and Owen
Hitchins, both of Waterloo, were seated at McGregor, Ia.,
yesterday at 1:30 p.m., following a picnic lunch at the Pictured
Rock region, resulted in instant death to the young woman, altho
her companion, who was seated within a foot of her, escaped
without injury. The cliff, undermined by recent rains, broke
without warning, the young people being buried beneath about 10
yards of sand, gravel and rock, which fell from a height of about
10 feet. Miss Miller's chest was badly crushed by rock.
David Schultz, 12 years old, McGregor, was killed in the fall of
rock and another man and woman, were injured. The slide is the
first to occur in this region for more than 40 years, residents
of McGregor say, and is similar to its predecessor in that death
resulted to those in its path.
Ruth Donna Miller was the fifth daughter of John G. Miller and
Emma Goughnour Miller, 505 Frederick street. She was born Sept.
23, 1902, in Waterloo, and had made her home in this city all her
life. She attended west schools and was graduated from high
school with the class of 1919, planning to remain at home for a
year before entering college. Besides the parents there survive
the following sisters and brothers: Miriam, Robert, Reuben,
Frances, Moses, Aaron, John, Esther and Homer. Mr. and Mrs.
Hitchins, their son and Miss Miller's parents returned to
Waterloo this morning, bringing with them the body of the girl.
Funeral services will be at the Miller residence Wednesday at 2
p.m.
[Note: a photo of Miss Miller & her companion, Owen Hitchins, accompanied the article - transcribed by S.F., March 2010]