LOOSE HORSES.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LV, Issue 14015, 21 September 1909, Page 4

LOOSE HORSES.

A RECENT ACCIDENT. Tho JollowiiiK letter lia.s been ad--dressed to tlio Honnigb Council on the subject oj tho recent accident to Mr S. IVrcy Smith: "I have seen the report submitted to the Council hv Inspector Tippins hi lei-erciice to the tiecident which belol Mr. S. Percy Smith near the water trough 011 the Avenue Read on Thursday afternoon hi^t. When Mr. Tippnib called on me 1 understood that hf deMred to have my account of the affair lor the information of his emploverthe Council— ond I gave him the details accordingly. 1 was not aware that Jx was empowered to hold an inquiry in Ins own discretion and to merely submit his finding to the. Council. What "lh.rmntnn ho does embody in his report is what he obtained from the »i lender and not from me. and he does not appear to have interviewed another witiiPM. whom I mentioned to .i;m. A\nh the object of moving the Council to take some action for thr protection of _ the public, am! also for the presenation of tlie footpaths formed and maintained at the cost of the ratcpavcrs I now beg to summarise what Itold Inspector Tippiiw. J us t hetoro o p.m. on Thursday last I was going from my home to the paddock on tlie Avenue Koad, accompanied by one <>t my cliiJdren. a little Jxiy <,f fi V( . Kaces « ere in progress on tlie borou«h reserve. As we crowed from John tstreet and were about abreast of the water trough. Mr. Smith and a lady followed by another lady, were approaching on bicycles from tho direction of Mangorei. They were riding quite slowly, as is Mr Smith's invariable habit. Ju&t as they were within five or six -yards of the trough— certanjy Mr Smith was not more than this distanc" irom me— a number of horses rushed Worn the top of Cameron Street to the trough, coming in between Mr Smith and myselt. 1 pulled my little boy to one side and shouted to Mr. Smith, Mho at the same moment stopped the way ot his bicycle and endeavoured to get out ot the track ot the horses. Two or three of the horses were bunched up, and one of these with his near hind leg caught the front wheel of Mr. Smith's machine K""f. kln t' over and throwing Mr! Smith off. Tho vouiiy man apparently in charge of the horses was mounted on a white horse. I made soioe remark to him about breaking the borough regulations and he replied that he always let the horses go at that, point (which is about 16 chains inside the borough). I said that he had better tell his boss so that he could make it right with Mr. Smith. Meanwhile the horses, some of them having had c drink, proceeded up the road, several of them on the footpath, as is their habit morning and night. The driver rodo on and took up a position in the road a bit this sid* of Mr. Perm's Louse where he remained looking at what Was going on on the racecourse while the horses eventually stopped at the far end of the road near Mr. Cliff's place went on to the paddock, got my horse" and cow, and brought them down havlnc a conversation with Councillor Bellnnger on the road. The horsp driver was still in the same place when I tr<yit round into John Street These facts can be corroborated by another witness, if not two. . As a resident in the locality I desire to impress upon the council tho great danger caused by those horses being driven along the streets of the borough without be^ur under proper control. It ig the pra£ tice of whoever is in charge to lead several horses (the others following loose) from the stables in town toW? the top of Cameron Street, where he lota thorn al go as was done on Thursday. But in the mornings. the same Jiorsea are driven into town loose and they often stampede down Cameron St. hill, frequently on the footpath, in such a manner that it would be almost impossible for children to get out of the way.