A tale told to Harry much later records the sad death of Arthur senior. This may best be recounted as a narrative story which perhaps bears some resemblance to the real events of the time.
Arthur and Annie managed to move out of town along the Cannock Road to the more rural district of Heath Town near open fields and farms. A few of their friends had bought houses nearby. They were small but they felt they now owned a little of the wealth the City had generated. A new community finding its roots with a new generation about to grow.For a few years to follow all appeared more settled and happy for the couple as they set about bringing up their two young daughters Gladys and Doris. Holidays at the seaside, a thing Arthur never knew as a child became possible and they would occasionally find relief from the oppressive City smoke out on the east coast at Yarmouth. They were happy times as a new generation began to explore the delights and pleasures the pre war twentieth century was offering.
As warm summers slowly changed to cold hard winters though, the early morning shifts meant that he now again had to walk a long distance into the centre of Wolverhampton and it was to take its toll on him. He had never been in the best of health and Annie begged him, "Please find yourself a new job, one where you can spend more time with the family and more regular hours."
He had shown a keen interest in the electrical business and so he reassured a worried Annie "I know someone, a friend of my brother who is looking for a person to help as an electrical engineer at that new factory over by the Stafford Road. I will go and see him tonight on the way home from work." Successful, he was offered a job at the factory as an engineer. Although there were occasional shifts, the times were much better. As it happened another wonderful opportunity suddenly appeared, one which they seriously considered accepting.
Arthur's elder brother John had changed from the painting business into catering and had a few years earlier accepted an offer from an old school friend to help run a hotel in America. Once established he wrote back to Annie and Arthur senior inviting them to travel out to America and join them in the business. Arthur was talking to Annie one evening as they were on the verge of accepting the offer and uprooting to go abroad but during the final deliberations tragic news came through on the radio of the sinking of the Titanic. "No." remarked Annie as she heard the dreadful news on the radio that night. "That seals it, I have never liked ships much so I am staying put. We will just have to suffer the English winters. I don't want to go any more." Arthur had to agree. That event sealed their decision not to go to America and life continued in England. Only a year later in 1913 their first son was born. How different this whole story may have been if the decision had gone the other way. But they were to stay on living at the edge of the Black Country to raise their family. The couple decided not to name him Edward after his father or Harry after her father but chose the name Arthur again proud in the thought that he would carry on the family name of Evans. Harry was to be the name of their second son to be born a few years later. Young Arthur was a bright young child but always more interested in the mechanical side of things than his academic studies. From a young age he had toy cars and trucks, some where his father's. He would make little roads from bits of wood out in the garden and pretend to drive his cars around. It brought new life back to his father as he was now able to relive some of his childhood memories through the games he played with his son. They spent many happy hours together when young Arthur was starting his life. He hoped for something better for his sons than he had known.
Then, one fateful evening in late autumn when the fog and smog where at their worst, all transport had stopped. It was in the Autumn when factories were belching out plumes of heavy smoke and steam that a November fog descended upon his route. The dense veil was heavy and did not lift from the ground to which it clung. There was no breeze to move this impenetrable screen. And so it was as Arthur started his journey home from work at the nearby factory. At the bridge he bade a cheerful goodnight to his work mates and started off along the short path which ran by the Birmingham canal down to Cannock Road basin. It was a familiar route he had used quite often but this particular night was different. The eerie fog curled its fingers around the poles and walls masking the familiar landmarks from his gaze. He found it strangely alien as he slowed his pace searching for signs that he was on the right path. Tired, cold and unsure of his footing, he stumbled and fell into the cold dark waters of the canal. Shock was the first emotion he felt which took all the breath from his body. He tried to shout out but the words froze in his mouth. Panic and fear grew as hypothermia rapidly began to set in. He attempted to climb out but having lost all feeling in his feet and hands he could not gain purchase on the slippery grassy bank. Tired and weak he slipped slowly back into the foul smelling waters and consciousness began to fade.He spent several hours in the water until late into the night when a distraught Annie had raised the alarm. Retracing the steps he would have taken, a body was spotted floating near the bank of the canal and a rescue was effected. That time in the cold dirty water caused an attack of pneumonia and hospitalisation. The pneumonia then aggravated his long suffering Tuberculosis leading to longer term internment in a sanatorium.
Arthur Evans junior had been born when his father was 33 so being at a young age when the tragic incident took place he was told little of the events which were to unfold. The only recollection he held was of his mother and older sisters going to visit their father. They were sad and quiet each time as they returned from their visits and young Arthur and Harry were told very little about their father's condition. With all good intent in their hearts they sheltered the youngsters from the harsh reality which the future held, hoping against all hope that one day he might return to their home. Their father's illness lasted for several years. Arthur senior finally died, never having left the sanatorium again.