Messages of Sympathy for the Victims of an Accidental Explosion During the President's Visit to Madison, Indiana.
MRS. HOOVER AND I send you deepest sympathy and feel distressed beyond measure over the unfortunate accident which resulted in the loss of your son. Our prayers are with you.
HERBERT HOOVER
[Mr. and Mrs. Strothers B. Earls, Madison, Indiana]
MRS. HOOVER AND I are sad to learn of the unfortunate accident which resulted in the death of Robert Earls and injuries to the other [p.354] members of the saluting battery. We have expressed our sympathy to the mother and father of the boy who lost his life and ask you to convey to the families of those injured our earnest hope that they may speedily recover.
HERBERT HOOVER
[Mayor of Madison, Madison, Indiana]
Note: On Wednesday, October 23, 1929, President Hoover paid a brief visit to Madison, Ind., en route to Louisville from Cincinnati. During the firing of a salute to the President, gunpowder prematurely exploded, killing Robert Earls and injuring three other National Guardsmen. The President was not informed of the accident until he was en route from Louisville to Washington, D.C. Upon his return to the White House, the above telegrams were sent to Mr. and Mrs. Earls and Mayor Marcus A. Sulzer.
Herbert Hoover, Messages of Sympathy for the Victims of an Accidental Explosion During the President's Visit to Madison, Indiana. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/208834