William D. Drake

Retired Telegrapher Seeks Mayor’s Job at Marion Oh:

      Marion, Ohio, May 25 1929, Loss of an arm and leg has not dwarfed the ambition of William D. Drake, retired Erie Railroad Telegraph operator, who has announced his candidacy for mayor here on the Democratic ballot.

      Forty-six years ago, Drake, who was then 16, lost an arm and leg when thrown against a large flywheel in a sawmill where he was working om Arlington, Ohio.   He lived in spite of claims by physicians that he surely would die.

    After leaving school, he studied telegraphy in the railroad office in Arlington Ohio, and for 43 years served as an operator for the Erie Railroad in Marion Ohio, retiring in 1930. Since then he has taken care of his small farm outside the city, making garden, setting out hedge and doing all the things anyone with two arms and two legs can do.

     A number of years ago when a rider failed to appear at a horse race in which one of Drake’s horses was scheduled to run, he himself mounted the animal and rode it to victory. He also on several occasions rode his bicycle down the Court house steps to demonstrate his prowess. He was also regarded as an expert swimmer several years ago and a fine shot with a gun, frequently tramping 15 or 20 miles a day on a hunting expedition.

     He has four children, tow daughters, Mrs. Elmer A Riemer and Mrs. Mildred Holt, both of Columbus Ohio and two sons Paul Roberts Drake of Marion Ohio and Frank K. Drake of Toledo Ohio.