J. O. Becker, a traveling man, who made this territory for a number of years, and was personally known to some of the Protection business men, died at the Brunswick rooms in this city on last Sunday, just a little after noon, death resulted from pneumonia. The deceased made his home in Wichita, and was making this territory as a saleman for an oil company. He used to come here as a salesman for the Maytag Manufacturing Company, selling the Maytag washing machines to the J. W. Ashcraft hardware store.

Mr. Becker had suffered an attack of influenza at his home in Wichita this winter and this was his first trip after again taking up his work.

Mr. Becker was at Buffalo on last Sunday and started, with two others, to drive to Protection in order to get the train into Wichita. Their car became stuck in a snow drift before they had gone far, and they were forced to abandon it and walk. They stopped over night at the Gottleid Yauk home and the next morning were taken to Paruna in a wagon by a neighbor of Mr. Yauk's and from Paruna they walked to Protection Monday through the snow, wanting to get here in time to make the east bound passenger train Tuesday morning. They reached this city last Monday night and Tuesday morning the east bound train failed to get through the snow between here and Sitka and the men where snow bound here. Mr. Becker was feeling badly all that day and visited the doctor in the evening. The next day he was taken ill with pneumonia from which he never recovered.

His wife was notified at Wichita and she started for Protection on the first train to come out after the railroad was opened by the rotary snow plow on Friday, but the train was snowbound near Sawyer and Mrs. Becker did not arrive here until Sunday evening, after the death of her husband. Beside his widow, Mr. Becker leaves a daughter twenty years old and a son ten years old.

Mr. Becker was a man, good natured and jovial, and was known to his friends here as "Jake." His body was taken to Wichita on Tuesday morning for interment.

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Thanks to Shirley Brier for finding, transcribing and contributing the above news article to this web site!