STUCK UP ON A BRIDGE

Grey River Argus, 29 June 1925, Page 4

STUCK UP ON A BRIDGE

HORSE ON RAILWAY LINE. DA.XGI.'R OB .xUUI DL.'nTS. A pr(»|H)>ifi<»n th:,t gave indi<-;i t i<m> of proxing must difficult to handle was that x\ liicli on Saturday night < onITonied the railwaymen who were I iriiig'i ng the late train from Kumara Junction Io Greymoutli. Nearing tie bridge at the other side of South Beach which spans a deep declivity, a horse lushed upon the line in from of the engine, and dashed wildly ' to the sleepers of I lie bridge, whili .-•re sei beneath the rails at interx. s of about a foot apart. 'l’he Jiiadd-a_ cd animal made its way to the middle of the bridge before it collapsed between the rails with its legs down between the sleepers; but Driver I n_ net I smartly pulled up his train before the engine got upon the bridge. Tin; problem was then how to remove the horse, which, is the engine had gone' on and struck it. might have r sily preeipitatml the locomotive ovvi lhe ’bridge into the creek bed lift'-.n or twenty feet below. There was a rope furnished from Guard Tadtch > van, but it was hardly one equal : ■ the strain of shifting the animal, xxl/de it • xx'ould have been a difficult n .'iltor to get to the opposite side ot lh»* bridge in the darkness and drizzle to attempt lhe animal’s removal. AXhile the driver was setting off to secure’ a stronger rope and tackle’ from a iailxv:ty_ man’s place further back. iiowejver, the horse, after its temporary -ollapse, raised itself somewhat, and, lurching to one side, toed; a backward somersault edean over the edge? ot 1 !.■• bridge, and fell fifteen feet, landing upon its back at the edge of the stream below. Strange to relate, it then got upon its legs—or at least three* oi them, for the fourth was apparently broken —but from its inaccessible position there was no time t<> make certain what was the full extent ot its injuries. The train then proceeded on its journev without further incident. This is but one of several similar occurrences lately on the lines around Greymoutli, and it is hard to understand why any stock owner neglects to keep his animals away from such danger, not merely 1o the stock, but the travelling public. i’he horse in this instance, a strong, dark bay. apparently a half-draught, was in proximity to the railway earlier in the day. It was very fortunate in the circumstances, that worse ‘consequences were avoided.