Two crashes within 24 hours on Illinois 26 south of Freeport have left two persons dead and four injured. A head-on collision four miles south of the city about 10 a.m. today killed James Kuntz, 33, rural Lanark. He was dead on arrival at Freeport Memorial Hospital. Tuesday afternoon Mrs. Alice T. Harrenstein, 54, Route 1, Forreston, died when the car in which she was riding skidded into a utility company truck. The deaths raised the Stephenson County traffic toll this year to three. The two fatal crashes occurred on straight stretches of highway about a mile apart.

Reports indicate that James Kuntz was riding with his brother, Joseph, while Ray Klegg, 63, of 218 W. Clark Street, Freeport, was driving the other auto. Both Joseph Kuntz, Ray Clegg, and his wife were injured. (Alice Horner’s note: Yes, this surname was spelled both Klegg and Clegg in the same article; I don’t know which spelling is correct.) They were taken to Memorial Hospital by two Freeport fire department ambulances. A hospital spokesman said this noon that conditions of Joseph Kuntz and Mrs. Clegg were serious and Clegg satisfactory.

The crash left both cars on the west side of the highway, facing in a northwesterly direction. State police investigated the accident, assisted by sheriff’s deputies. Details of the crash were not available at noon.

James Kuntz was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Kuntz Sr. of Brookville. He is survived by his parents; four brothers, Peter of Lanark, Joseph, William, and Paul, all at home; and a sister, Mrs. Katherine Fleemer of Milledgeville.

Death of Mrs. Harrenstein was attributed by Coroner Eugene Burke to crushing chest injuries. She was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the car, Mrs. Harrenstein’s daughter Dorothy, 24, received multiple injuries. Miss Harrenstein was listed in serious condition today at Freeport Memorial Hospital. She sustained severe scalp cuts and a fractured left knee. Tuesday’s crash occurred about 2:45 p.m. on a straight stretch of Illinois 26 a half mile south of the Chicago Great Western Railroad overpass. Driving conditions were poor at the time. Stephenson County sheriff’s deputies said pavement was wet with scattered icy spots and slush. Fog reduced visibility. Deputies said the southbound Harrenstein auto skidded on ice, crossed over the center line and collided with a northbound Commonwealth Edison 1 ½ ton line truck. Neither the truck driver, Harry Brown, 609 S. Miami Ave., nor a fellow worker, George Culver, 1122 S. Homestead Ave., was injured.

The vehicles ended up about 90 feet apart on opposite sides of the road. The car was demolished and the front left and side of the truck damaged. Deputies charged Miss Harrenstein with traveling too fast for conditions. It took rescue workers about half an hour to free Miss Harrenstein from the wreckage. She was pinned behind the steering wheel. Both Harrenstein women worked at Burgess Battery Co. in Freeport and were apparently going home from work when the crash occurred.

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