By SUE HUNTER WEIR
It can be hazardous moving around the city during road-repair and construction season. It is even more dangerous for the men and women who do that work. That is nothing new. On May 5, 1911, eleven workmen were repairing a streetcar track on Washington Avenue when they were struck by a streetcar. One of the men died, two others were seriously injured but survived, and the rest were not seriously injured.
The accident occurred late in the evening but word of what had happened spread quickly and within a short time, “nearly 100 infuriated Slavonians [sic]” arrived on the scene. They surrounded the car and dragged the driver, Julius Risan, out and beat him.
It took four policemen to disperse the mob. They took Risan, who was described as heartbroken, to the South Side Police Station pending an investigation and, no doubt, to prevent him from coming to greater harm. Witnesses claimed that the streetcar was traveling too fast and that the driver didn’t give the men warning by “ringing his gong.” In his defense, Risan claimed that he hadn’t been notified that men would be repairing the tracks on his route and that the workmen hadn’t displayed any lights as they were required to do. He also claimed that he was temporarily blinded by the light of an oncoming streetcar. By the time that he saw the work crew, it was too late. Michael Sedjo Misura was dragged for more than 100 feet. He was taken to City Hospital where he died without regaining consciousness. He was 42 years old.
Newspaper accounts of the accident were riddled with errors: incorrect names, incorrectly identified victims and incorrect nationalities. The Minneapolis Tribune initially reported that the man who died was George Goblack but it is more likely that his name was Gabrik or Gabrak since those were the names associated with his address in city directories. But no matter how his name was spelled, he was not the man who was killed. That man was Mike Misura whose name was also incorrectly reported; the Tribune identified him as Mike Sadoa. They referred to the streetcar driver as Julius Rierson but his last name was Risan. And the “Slavonians” were actually Slovaks; they were from what was formerly part of Czechoslovakia, not from what is currently part of Croatia.
The accident took place on Washington Avenue not far from the Bohemian Flats, a community located under the Washington Avenue Bridge that served as home to a variety of different ethnic groups over the years, but which in the early part of the 20th century was home to many of the city’s recent Slovak arrivals. That proximity, no doubt, accounted for the ability of a crowd to gather so quickly after the accident occurred. And the crowd was not easily dispersed. In addition to surrounding the streetcar, friends of Misura tried to “storm the hospital.” The police were called out again and it was not until after midnight that the last of the protesters went home.
Coroner Seashore called for a coroner’s jury to assist in his investigation. The jury only deliberated for half-an-hour before returning a verdict of “apparent negligence.” A municipal court judge charged Risan with second-degree manslaughter and set bail at $5,000. The streetcar company paid Risan’s bail and he was released pending the findings of a grand jury.
The grand jury convened on May 16, 1911. Risan and Ole Kinneberg, the conductor, were subpoenaed and told their version of what happened that night. The grand jury was persuaded by their testimony and issued a “no bill.” Risan was free to go.
Mike Sedjo Misura is buried in Lot 106, Block B, in the 53rd grave from the south. His grave is marked but the tablet is no longer attached to the base and needs to be reset. We will get to that soon.
