Morning journal and courier., 1880-03-17
A Horse Commits Suicide.
Repeated and Determined Attempts Smashing the Skull Against a Stone

Repeated and Determined Attempts
 Smashing tho Skull Against a Stone
 Wall.
 From the Louisville Courier Journal
 A remarkable case of insanity in mare, re-
 sulting in deliberate attempt at suicide, oc-
 cured near the corner of Broadway and Four
 teenth street yesterday about noon. The
 sight as described by an eye witness was as
 hideous and sickening as it was singular. MT.
 0. P. Stearns, the well known jeweler, has
 owned mare, a handsome, well-formed and
 valuable family nag. She was gentle as a
 kitten, and has been driven with perfect
 safety and freedom heretofore, and had never
 until yesterday displayed any temper or sin
 gularity. Yesterday about noon MT. Stearns'
 coachman was driving the mare down Four
 teenth street, near Broadway, when suddenly
 she broke away in the widest frenzy and he
 lost all control of her. The mare dashed
 across the street in the old "Government
 school house." which is surrounded by an
 iron railing, being set upon 8 stone wall five feet high. The wild animal dashed into the side gate, which was open, dragging the buggy after her. The vehicle was too bulky to get through and stuck, while the horse kicked and struggled in a paroxysm of madness. Two colored men chanced to be standing in the yard. They rushed forward and managed to free her from the vehicle but all efforts to quiet her were in vain. No sooner was she released than she dashed away into the yard, up the embankment and drove her head first with terrific force, against the brick wall of the house. The collision was sickening, the noise of the forehead striking the bricks being heard all about. The mare reeled under the l shock, and falling sideways rolled off the em- bankment, carrying the iron railing with her into the street and ran with all her might head first into the ragged stone wall and again fell.
 She rose again and, heading for the street, dashed across vacant lotM through plank fanaa fha ciHa nf nr p G Trnnna1l'o raci
 dence, and again ran into his house. This turned her toward the street again, and she broke through partition fence and through his front palings. The doctors two children and neighbor's child had been sitting on the fence, and 8 colored man barely snatched them away before the insane brute crushed through the support. After gaining the street the mare staggered aimlessly about until she espied the stone wall, in front of the school | house. She dashed into this again, head on, and reeling from the shock, fell to the ground With awful force this sickening act was re- peated half 8 dozen times Dr. Trunnel was coming up Maple street at the time and wit messed this portion of the tragedy. He rode hurriedly to his residence and in few mo- ments acquainted himself with the state of affairs The insane animal had by this time staggered of down Fourteenth toward Maga- zine street, on the way dashing against anoth- CT wall. Dr. Trunnell rode after her, and as she approached, she turned and started to- wards him. A colored man was standing near with rope. The mare was bloody and reeling. her head dropped and her eyes, blood shot and fierce before, had begun to close. Dr. Trunnell asked the colored man to throw the rope about the mare's neck, and when this was done the animal was jerked to the ground. Dr. Trunnell then obtained 8 heavy iron dray pin and knocked her in the head putting her out of misery. The mare had some frightful cuts upon her breast and head, where she had dashed against the rugged stones, and one of her legs was broken. The sight was hideous, and those who witnessed it were sickened It is not known what pro- duced the sudden frenzy in the usually gentle animal She had not displayed any restless ness or fractiousness before. It was thought to be hydrophobia at first but it does not ap- pear that the mare had been bitten by rabid dog. Dr. Trunnell stated that he remember ed, when boy, the death of 8 neighbours
 horse from hydrophobia nine months after the fatal bite was received. In that case the ami
 nal was seized as suddenly as MT. Barnes
 horse, and committed the same desperate
 freaks. An account went the rounds of the
 press recently, of 8 Hambletonian stallion
 who had killed five men, and was discovered
 to be clearly insane. In that case the cause
 of the malady was traced to close breeding.
 The instance yesterday is not easily explained.
 It was clearly suicide, as Dr. Trunnell says
 the mare could not have lived. He killed her
 to end her misery and prevent further dam
 age.