HARRY SMITH OF GRATZ, KILLED BY TRAIN
Residents thruout this section and the thousands who yearly attend the Gratz Fair at Gratz, Pennsylvania, were shocked Wednesday evening to learn of the sudden death of Harry Smith, president of that association, which occurred at Millersburg Wednesday afternoon when he was struck and instantly killed by a freight train on the tracks of the Northern central railroad at the northern end of Millersburg.
The body was found at 6:15 Wednesday afternoon, identification being made by a merchant whose name was found on his clothing.
Smith was in Harrisburg and when he got off the train at Millersburg said he was on his way to meet his son in Elizabethville. When the son, Harold Smith, did not find his father at Elizabethville, he went to Millersburg, where he learned, his father had been killed.
Carried Gun, Coroner Says
A preliminary examination of the body was made by Coroner J. H. Kreider who said he found a .33 calibre gun was being carried by Smith. An inquest will be held.
According to friends of Smith who had talked to him a short time before he was found dead, Smith had asked them if a cow catcher on a locomotive would push a man from the tracks. The friends and the coroner also said that Smith had been suffering from nervous disorder ever since the fire last fall that nearly destroyed the town of Gratz. [See: Great Gratz Fire of 1924].
At that time Smith was about recovering health and the loss of his establishment by the fire, in which thousands of dollars was lost caused his health to turn for the worse.
Gratz Resident Since 1899
Mr. Smith was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and first came to Gratz in 1898 as a public exhibitor. In 1899 he returned and settled to the borough permanently. He proved to be one of Gratz‘s leading business men until the flames caused him to lose all his property and place of business last fall.
Revived Gratz Fair
Gratz Fair Association which was organized in 1873 ran along for thirty-two years and yearly the attendance became smaller so that by 1905 it was decided to discontinue the fair and sell the grounds in building plots. Mr. Smith offered to bu the grounds on the condition that the same be leased to him for a period of two years in order that he might determine further its practicability, at the end of which period he would purchase. During 1906-07, the fair was conducted under Smith’s supervision and proved a wonderful success. At the end of the period a company was organized by Mr. Smith, and the the grounds taken over. Since that time keen interest manifests itself in the Gratz Fair.
In speaking of the Gratz Fair the author of the Lykens-Williams Valley Directory and Pictorial Review states “We must pause to remind you that the bigger portion of all that is said of and seen of Gratz Fair is nothing more than the results of one who has the affair at heart and who is largely responsible for its present day success, this one is none other than Mr. Harry Smith, who was at the critical time came to the front and not only saved it from oblivion but better still, made it greater than ever before.”
Surviving Smith are his wife, one son Harold Smith, and two daughters Ethel Smith and Dorothy Smith.
Funeral Tomorrow
Funeral services will be held from his home in Gratz, Saturday at 2 o’clock, the Rev. C. P. Wehr of Elizabethville officiating.
Fraternally Mr. Smith was a member of Loyal Order of Moose, No. 1176 of Lykens; Benevelent and Protective Order of Elks, Sunbury, and Fraternal Order of Eagles, of Harrisburg.
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From the Lykens Standard, July 10, 1925, via Newspapers.com.