ACCIDENTS AND FATALITIES

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4291, 26 February 1901, Page 7

ACCIDENTS AND FATALITIES

A SENSATIONAL BOLT

Shortly after the procession, of the Indian troops yesterday a sensational runaway accident took place, and was unfortunately attended with serious consequences. A trap belonging to Messrs Frank and Henry McDonald, partners m the firm of McDonald and Co., of tao American Wool Agency, Old Customhouse quay, had been following the procession. In the trap were Mr H. McDonald, sen., and his five young daughters (named respectively Maud, V inme, Alice, Emily and Helene), and also a son of Mr Frank McDonald, named Henry. The vehicle was just opposite the Loan and Mercantile Agency Company’s store, Featherston street, when the horse took alarm at a piece of loose paper and shied so vmleutlythat the driver {Mr H- McDonald) was precipitated from his seat. The startled animal then dashed along the roadway at an alarming pace, taking a course past, the Courthouse in the direction of the Police Station. Mounted Constable Abbott followed the runaway, and succeeded in piloting him clear of two corners and on to Lamhton quay. The home of the brothers McDonald is in Karori, and force of habit inclined the horse to turn in the direction of Molosworth street when it reached the quay. The hampering restrictions of the blinkers, however, resulted in an erratic course being steered by the horse, and the fact soon became evident that a collision would occur. The trap’s course described a semi-circle from the corner of Whitmore street to the western footpath of Lamhton quay, where a collision occurred with one of the verandah posts in front of Mr Spencer Vincent’s chemist’s shop. The heavy iron post snapped off like elder-wood three feet from the kerb, and the top part, becoming detached from the verandah by the shock, fell with a thud to the road, fortunately without striking any of the occupants of the vehicle. The impact with-the post was so severe that the conveyance was drawn on without apparent diminution of speed, and the affrighted steed dashed through the heavy plate-glass door of Mr Vincent’s shopj the occupants of the trap being meanwhile precipitated on to the footpath. The shock of the second collision steadied the horse, and it v f - as brought to a standstill inside the shop, whence it was subsequently got out comparatively unharmed. The whole of the occupants of the trap wore severely shaken and contused, and Maud, the eldest girl, aged 12, was found to be insensible when picked up. Constable Collett, who was in charge of the watchhouse, telephoned for Dr Henry so soon as ho saw the accident occur, and the doctor was soon in attendance. He found the girl Maud to he severely injured. Her skull was fractured by contact with the pavement, and she had in addition received other, though superficial, in juries. All the members of the party were attended to on tho spot by Dr Henry, after which tho chief suffered by the accident was removed to tho private hospital in Abel Smith street, whore she still lies in a precarious condition. There was a large number of people in the streets at the time of tho accident, and it is a matter for surprise that the accident was not attended by even more serious results. A consul tion between Drs Do Renzi, Henry and Martin was held at the hospital last night.

A somewhat sensational occurrence took place at Jervois quay last evening. A carriage, containing Mrs Peter Webb and three of the Misses Mills (daughters of the Hon C. H. Mills), was standing near the troopship Dalhousie, when the horses became frightened at the whistling of a passing train, and commenced kicking and tried to bolt. The driver clung manfully to the reins, and Messrs W. Crowe (Mr Mills’s secretary) and Irens, who were with the party, rushed to the horses’ heads. Meanwhile the forecarriage became jammed, and the vehicle threatened to overturn. Willing hands liberated the ladies from their dangerous predicament just before the carriage came into collision with the train, which' at that moment, luckily, was brought to a standstill. The front of the vehicle was demolished by the horses’ iron-shod heels, and one of the animals was injured. The incident caused a considerable sensation for the moment, as it was witnessed by hundreds of onlookers who were watching the embarkation of the Indian troops.