GEORGE F. PRESTON

PAINTSVILLE MAN DIES
OF BROKEN NECK

GEORGE F.PRESTON VICTIM
OF SWIMMING ACCIDENT IN W. Va.

George F. Preston, 26, son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred F.
Preston of Paintsville received injuries at Guyandotte,
W. Va. Tuesday from which he died in a Huntington
Hospital Wednesday.

Young Preston was with a carnival, with which he had been
connected with for a number of years, in charge of the
riding devices.  Preston and a number of other showmen
had gone in a favorite swimming hole near the mouth of
the Guyandotte River.

The men were diving into the water from a diving board
about 20 feet high.  Mr. Preston not being familiar with
the swimming hole dived into shallow water and his head
hit the sand with such force that his neck was broken.
He was rescued from the water after the injury and was
rushed to the hospital by the owner of the carnival and
his wife.  He died at the hospital about 10:00 Wednesday
morning.  Mr. Preston was a very popular member of the
show crew.

Preston remained conscious almost to the end and told his
father just how the accident occured.

The body was brought to Paintsville by the ambulance of
the Paintsville Furniture Co. Wednesday evening and
prepared for burial.

The funeral services will be held at the home in East
Paintsville.  Burial will be made in the old Brown
cemetery in Bridgford.

He is survived by his widow and two small children, his
parents, Mr. and Mrs. Fred F. Preston, one sister, Mary
Jo Preston, and two brothers, Milton F. and Stewart D.
Preston, and many relatives and friends in this section.

The untimely death of this young father is to be
regretted and much sympathy is felt for his family.

PAINTSVILLE HERALD
THURSDAY
7-25-1940

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