COBDEN MAN INJURED

Grey River Argus, 31 July 1940, Page 10

COBDEN MAN INJURED

BY RUNAWAY STEER One of a number of steers railed from Waipuna to Greymouth for Messrs Stewart and Sons, butchers, Greymouth, caused considerable damage and injured a man when it broke ( away from a group at the cattle yards near the goods sheds yesterday morning. The steers were not dehorned, and evidently were upset by their journey in the trucks, for they proved difficult to manage when a drover, Mr B. Steele, removed them from the cattle yards, near the Greymouth goods sheds, about 7.30 o’clock. One Shorthorn immediately made a break for the gorse south of the goods sheds. The drover left the other eight steers herded against a fence and gave chase to the runaway, eventually getting it back into the yard, after it had run wild amongst the trucks on the wharf. In the meantime, the other eight steers had also run away and careered up the wharf and through the town as far as Cobden bridge. Mr A. G. McNeill, married, ot lid Bright Street, Cobden, who was standing at the end of the Cobden bridge waiting for a car to take him to work at Dobson, was attacked, being thrown some feet into the air, m an attempt to turn the mob into the side road at the back of the Public Works Depar - ment’s workshop. While his atten tion was directed to the lead 1 , e /r r ’ of the herd charged at him. Mr McNeill managed to crawl under the fence about ten feet away, where he was ’picked up by a motorist who had witnessed the incident, and conveyed to his home. He was attended by Dr. W. A. Bird, and is confined to his bed, suffering from severe bruising and abrasions. Fortunately the steer had inturned horns, and thev did not penetrate, although they left their mark on Mr McNeill’s side. After its attack on Mr McNeill, the steer continued up Omoto Road, meeting two youths on cycles. The youths made a hasty retreat to the safety of a fence, but the steer charged the cycles [causing considerable damage. Mr R. Gibbens, who resides on Omoto Road, seeing the animals pass and realising that the enraged steer and its companions were tin-, attended, managed to turn them off the road and to keep it clear. In the meantime, the police had been communicated with, and the steer responsible for the attacks was shot by Detective C. Davis. The remainder of the steers were then safely padlocked, although some difficulty was experienced with the beast which originally caused the drover to lose control of the herd.