Atlanta, GA Taxicab Kills Margaret Mitchell, Aug 1949 - Condition Improved

DEFINITELY IMPROVED

Gone With Wind Author Rallies From Injuries

ATLANTA, Aug. 12 (AP)--Plucky Margaret Mitchell showed definite improvement Friday from injuries inflicted by a speeding car.

Her husband, John R. Marsh, reported from the hospital that she is "definitely better compared with last night."

He added that the shy, modest author of the world-famed "Gone With the Wind," was only partly conscious 24 hours after the careening vehicle struck her and dragged her 15 feet.

HOPES RAISED

But, he announced, she has rallied sufficiently to permit removal of an oxygen tent and lend stronger hope for her recovery.

The were walking to a Peachtree Street theater near their home Thursday night when the automobile slammed her to the pavement. The police said the driver was drunk and on the wrong side of the street.

MANY CALLS

The hospital said "thousands of calls" made it necessary to set up a special information desk to handle queries about Atlanta's popular author.

Two hardworking internes[sic] and a half a dozen student nurses attended the author during the night, giving a blood transfusion. Two others were given Friday.

Two of the South's foremost brain surgeons also were in attendance.

The 43-year-old Miss Mitchell--in private life, Mrs. John Marsh--suffered a possible skull fracture, internal injuries and and an injury to one leg. Her face was badly bruised.

A family friend said an interne[sic] reported blood had run in a thin, weak stream from Miss Mitchell's left ear, normally a sign of a skull fracture.

HUSBAND SAFE

Miss Mitchell and her husband were enroute to a neighborhood theater when she was struck. Her husband, victim of a heart ailment for several years, said he was about a step behind his wife, otherwise he, too, would have been injured.

He held his wife in his arms until an ambulance arrived.

The driver of the car which struck Miss Mitchell--28-year-old Hugh D. Gravett--is being held on suspicion of manslaughter, drunken driving, speeding and driving on the wrong side of the street. Gravett, a taxi-cab driver, was in his own car at the time of the accident.

Abilene Reporter News, Abilene, TX 13 Aug 1949