HORSES BOLT

Southland Times, Issue 20771, 11 May 1929, Page 7

HORSES BOLT

COLLISION WITH TRAM

EXCITEMENT IN DEE STREET ANIMALS CUT BY GLASS Two horses attached to a van owned by Oughton, Shaw and Co., bolted from the railway yards at about 9.40 yesterday morning and, after galloping through Spey Street to Dee Street, dashed madly into a moving tramcar. The horses were startled by something in the railway yard and made off, but were caught by the driver, Mr. R. Shaw, and taken back to the goods shed. Mr. Shaw jumped off the van, an ordinary four wheeler with a canvas tilt, and was about to chain the wheel when the horses again bolted. They crossed the railway yard and turned into Spey Street, and Mr. Shaw, who had given chase, climbed in at ihc rear of the van. When he reached the driver’s seat he discovered that the reins were trailing on the ground, and consequently he was unable to do anything apart from shouting to warn other traffic. An eyewitness of the collision between the van and the tramcar states that he was standing near the corner of Spey and Dee streets when he heard someone shouting and the sound of galloping horses. The horses came out of Spey Street at a dead gallop and headed straight across Dee Street. A tramcar was travelling along Dee Street and the horses galloped straight into. He never saw anything so coldblooded before. They never swerved or attempted to stop, but struck the car with a crash that could be heard three blocks away. The force of the impact broke five windows out of the tramcar and dented the side inwards. One of the horses turned completely over and the other fell down. The tramcar was struck near the rear, and fortunately there were no passengers in that part of the car. It travelled about a length and then stopped, leaving the horses lying on the line. One of the horses was badly cut in the neck and the eye-witness pulled A large piece of glass out of the cut. The other was badly cut behind the knee and both had smaller cuts from the glass. The pole of the van was broken off in front and the rear portion was driven back through the fore-carriage. The horses were removed from the scene of the accident for attention and the tramcar was taken to the shed. The van was repaired and removed later.