On July 8, 1923, the Lincoln Sunday Star front-page banner shouted, "HEAT CAUSES DEATH IN LINCOLN". The succession of sub-headlines seems lurid, and bizarrely indented, but nonetheless sensational:
WORKMAN DIES
FROM EFFECT
OF SUNSTROKE
Frederick D. Wolfe, 58, Suc-
cumbs An Hour After He Is
Stricken While Wrecking
Building Saturday After-
noon
FIRST FATALITY
FROM HEAT HERE
Victim Suffered Slight Stroke
Preceding Day But Returns
to Work — Temperature
Teaches Season's High
Mark
I can't completely reproduce the staggered column justification and jagged fonts, but it was fun to try. You can't deny this lopsided tower of statements is startling. Mr. Wolfe suffered a stroke on Friday but returned to the jobsite to wreck a building on Saturday? Wow.
Lauretta Wolfe Gangman, the deceased's daughter, called Artena and her companion, Bessie, to alert them of the tragedy. The missionaries immediately sprang to action:
"We went over to Sister Ipson’s and practiced a song to sing at the funeral. Elder Richards practiced “Face to Face”. We made some lemonade and put soda in it and it sure was not as good as without. We came home and combed our hair." (Source: Artena Arising)
With their palates refreshed and their hair restyled, the lady missionaries attended the funeral at Wadlow's Mortuary. Either Mr. Wolfe was not LDS like his daughter, or Mr. Wadlow the undertaker led the charge because the missionaries were not allowed to speak in the services. Artena keenly felt some cultural differences:
"The preacher was a Dutchman, from the Lutheran Church. He sure did not give those poor people any comfort to wipe away the sting of the grave. Sister Steinagel and I rode in the car with the mourners to the cemetery. The grave was dedicated with the Lord’s prayer—somewhat different than our church. Well, the Dutch minister let us missionaries sing one song and Elder Richards sang “Face to Face” as the people passed by to see the corpse. " (Source: Artena Arising)
I rather like this episode, as Artena continuously complains about the summer heat in her diary. Who can blame her? No air conditioning, a stifling set of rented rooms, voluminous layers of stiff clothing, not an ice cube in sight.
The temperature on the day of the sunstroke accident peaked at 96 degrees. Here is the full newspaper clipping if my account has left you wanting:
From the Hymnal...
Elder Glen Young Richards chose to sing "Face to Face," a Methodist hymn from the turn of the century. The song was not part of The Songs of Zion, the official 1908 LDS hymnal, which surely represented a conciliatory gesture.
Now Elder Richards happens to be the rock star of the entire Artena Arising project, not least because his superlative photo album got the ball rolling. He was in the Navy in his early years, then the mission, a successful lawyer, then became a decorated U.S. Navy chaplain in World War II. He may have stepped on a few toes during his twenties (see Artena Arising for some stories), but, goodness, the man could sing.
Here is his song from that long, hot day in July 1923:
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