The following June 12, 1924 Lowell Tribune article appeared on page 1, column 4:
HAS NARROW ESCAPE
Charles R. Sherard, local manager for the Calumet Gas & Electric Co., in Lowell, had a narrow escape from being electrocuted last Thursday. During the storm the lights went out and he started out to find the trouble and located it near the Seigal Hayden farm north of Lowell. Mr. Sherard called the engineer at Crown Point telling him he was going to work on the line and that when the men working on the line called in, to let them know he was working. The men did not call, and when they arrived at Cedar Lake they found the switch open and not knowing that Sherard was on the line, turned on the juice. He got the whole 13,000 volts carried on the high line. Mr. Sherard was thrown into the road and it is a wonder that he was not killed instantly and the only thing he can figure that he was not, is due to the fact that he was using a pair of pliers that were heavily insulated, which was probably what saved his life. The only mark he can detect is a small place on one of his fingers.