From the Skidmore News (Skidmore, Missouri), October 27, 1921, page 1:
Missed Bridge; Landed in Twenty-Foot Ditch.
Driver Was Not Familiar With Road And Was Blinded by Dust — Nobody Hurt.Last Sunday evening, an accident occurred one and three-fourths mile west of town that might easily have been a tragedy, when a Ford touring car missed the bridge and landed at the bottom of a 20-foot ditch.
The driver of the car lives at Hamilton, Mo., and with his wife and two children, two and four years old, was going to Langdon when the accident occurred. They were driving west, and it seems that another car had passed them just before they reached the bridge, raising so much dust that they were unable to see distinctly. They were not familiar with the road, and did not know there was a bridge there, so drove straight ahead, trusting to luck that they would get along alright until the dust cleared away.
The bridge must be crossed at an angle, and as the car was driven straight, it missed the bridge entirely, plunging into the ditch. Fortunately, none of the occupants were injured and the car was only slightly damaged.
About two years ago, the County Court purchased sand for the purpose of replacing this bridge, and the sand was hauled to the bridge and dumped there. It has gradually blown away or slid down the bank into the ditch until most of it has been wasted, and still the old bridge stands just as it was. After someone is killed there, possibly the bridge will be replaced and put in the road rather than at the side of it.