EXCITING AFFAIR AT WYNDHAM.

Southland Times, Issue 3418, 4 June 1879, Page 2

EXCITING AFFAIR AT WYNDHAM.

... | . ... ." ' y& — '■-''' '. ■ - ■ '.- One. of .the most. exciting 'escapades: that' it has :eyeiv : been ! .my,.lot;.'io.\witness.' ,^\yTifes.l durvWyndhavn correspondent) occurred at 'jtllis place on- Monday morning. : As usual , Mr Milne's 'bus . the township - from : the "' Edendale' rail way station, and drew up Opposite- Milne's Hotel, where the .. driver /got off ; to sort tsoirie; .trifling 1 strap^bn .the; harness.; . Spmelidtv -or other, the horses .took fi-iglit and 'bolted, going found the corner, io.j the stable}, .and from thence oyer, ; to . Laidlaw -^ aridJ. .Go.ldeh's yard,^coming ' back through tiie tQwn.. Between .the. •Bank of New Zealand and Mr Elliot's shop' fa large: concom-ser of j people assembled,-, at least— one-h lindred-being-rcollected-in-the-street. One of them ("John McKenzie) caught hold of the horses, but they had too much way on, and he had to let go, partly in consequence of one "of the reins being broken. At a mad pace they went through the township, luckily without hurting any person. Being now thoroughly roused, they tore down the "main road in the direction of the Toi Tois, at a terrific pace. Mr W. H. Mathicson was. the first horseman to gallop after them, and iby the time he got ;clear of the to\y_. theyi were tully^quar'tejr. of |i rirjje ahead, and showed no signs of giving in. He was mounted on a good horse,: and, in own words, rapidly overhauled the runaways. When ihis. horse came up to them he was thoroughly on his mettle, and shot ahead.: On ; his nearing the runaway, however, the reins were found to be hanging elbse : to the ptflej arid could' not begot' at. The first obstruction on the road was a bridge across a small creek, which was safely passed. A man cutting the hedge of Dr Memdes' estate, seeing the lumbering vehicle, approaching, ran out on to the road, and brandished his. hedge knife, but this had only the effect oi increasing. the pace. All this time Mathieson was hanging around, first on one side and then on the other, trying to pull up the horses ;. but his efforts were of no avail. He caught hoid of the off rein, but this only pulled the horses off the main 'road, which -'at- -this place" is bouuded with a deep ditch on either side. Seeing that he could not stop them that, way, and being but a few ' yards from the Wyndham Bridge, he judged it better to drop behind, and let them take their chance'; which was done. , ;. This bridge was built in th©;. early days, when ; ; the traffic was small, and consequently.; ;the structure is veiy narrow, aud at the place where it crosses the-Wyndham it is very rocky, and the bridge is quite 20 feet clear of the water. 'If' -the coach had gone Over, its pieces could have been put in a wheelbarrow — in other words, the horses aud coach would have, been dashed to pieces. They made the bridge, arid' fortunately just scraped the outside pier and got safely across. Mr and Mrs Todd were walking on one of their paddocks close to the road, and saw the team take the : bridge, s and the gentleman; immediately; rushed to the road and caught hold of the horses' heads as they rushed past him arid nearly succeeded in stopping them when the near horse started again Svith ;a spring, throwing him in between the librsc's forelegs. He kept hold, of the pole for. about twenty-five yards ; but every' plunge of the mad horses' feet struck him, and at length he let go ; his: clothes were torn off his back, and he foiled under the horses' feet. When all but clear, however, the off horse kicked him on the head, and there he lay. Mathieson, who was a spectator to this, was powerless to fender assistance, arid his feelings may be better imagined than described. The strangest "part of the matter is that Mr Todd was not killed, : and with -the, exception^of^he^ scalp Avound arid^avery] severe shaking he escaped with' his' life. The horses, on , travelling : a quarter of a mile further on, were stopped on rising Mr Brand's Hill, and were brought back to the township all right j and with the exception of a few bolts in the coach being started and the harness cut up a little no harm was done.