New-York tribune., 1889-11-05
ANOTHER DEADLY CURRENT
"A HORSE KILLED IN FOURTH-AVE'

THE DRIVER OF THE ANIMAL AND foL'o"
SERGEANT sHocKED-A BROKEN ThLh'" "o-'-'
WIRE HAD FALLEN IN THE STREET
An old telephone wire decayed by long exposure
Ind use parted at Fourth-ave ana i"en's y, ~
:, .arIy yesterday morning and one end fell upon
,t,. cor cracks in the avenue AT some point the
wire was in contact with an electric hght "e' anu
uch of the deadly current passed 1nrousn 'N'
dangling thread Of iron TO kill horse shoch ohe
driver of the horse dangerously and nearly XIII d
police sergeant o.
had driven horse and wagon to the Urano
Central Station with load of morning newspapers
ond was going downtown after another load when
,be bose ran against the broken wire There was
not enough light in the avenue at that hour 10
enable Whelan TO see the thin wire curling IN
bir loon over the car track and he was astonlshcd
when the horse fell fat on the pavement and lay
there kicking and shivering. He had been thrown
from his seat by the sudden stopping OF the wagon
and as he was falling he struck against the morse
A moment later he was sprawling on the muddy
pavement and felt a strange dlzzlheSs. lie uiD
not understand what had happened, and as soon a.
he re gained his feet he back TO the horse ana
tried TO unhtch it from the wagon. lie was
knocked down again by another shock lha'
stunned him and made him helpless Tor ie"
minutes. AS he lay the pavement he saw
blush light darting along the horses sac Inc
horse had been caught in the loop OF the "ire anu
was being killed slowly by the powerful cuii''i'
Wbelan shouted for help. Several men ran
,oward him. ont they did not dare TO touch the
horse Some went TO the pohce Stalioh III
Fast Thirty st. for assistance and Sergedhe
Alhert w Mcdonald and Roundsman lhomas
Cassidy started out to see what was wrong "A
crowd had gathered in the avenue and Sergeaho
Mcdonald warned everybody away 1fOlR the
horse which by that time was dead. AS the
sergeant was trying find out where the electric
current came from he ran directly against the
wire. 1t knocked oil his cap and grazed MS
head He fell TO the ground senseIesS anu MS
forehead was cut in striking against pa'ihS
stone Roundsman Cassidy ran to raise ms su-
nerior officer and he also received slight shock
Blood trickled from the wound IN McDonalds
forehead as ne was carried to the sidewalk ana
for a time il was feared that he had been killed
An ambulance was summoned III haste DelIe
a. arrived the sergeant had recovered conscious
ness. He was carried to the pohee station WI whele sn
rious the surgeon said, and he was sehI 10 Ills
home in fremont. A.,
WheIan had recovered from the effects OF the
shocks and had no need of medical attention, Dlt
he remained in the avenue and watched the roast
ing body of the dead horse. Policemen KEPT a
after o'clock, while all travel In the avenue
was stopped At length policeman Went 10 lhe
shops of the Manhattan Electric Light Company
in West Twenty-fith-st., and summoned fofelnl1
Wright and two linemen Foreman wright Ioul9
the wire and cut it. The loose end was allowed
10 hang in the gutter, where II continued 10 throw
out a stream of sparks for half an hour. men
thc wire was cut near the pole by one OF thc
inemen 1t was not known where the wire was
crossed with electric light WIRE foreman fnnIll
Wright said the cross probably was several blocks
nwav. The horse belonged to John II. Whltt,
of No. 374 East Fourth-st, ana was wor'h "oou'
$500 -, D., -
Theodore Moss, a member of the Board OF
electrical Control when seen by Tribune re-
porter Yesterday afternoon, said that he had not
visited the scene of the accident, but had @ pen
told by an inspector of the Board that some
electric light wire of the kind called underwriters
was strung to the pole from which hung s Ine
1elcpbone wire that did the damage The Board
has been fighting the underwriters wlre,' he saiu
and last year prohibited its use amer January
/ 1850 We know that it is unsafe, but the IN
function obtained by the electric light companies
prevents our taking it down, and accidents con-
tinuc II is fortunate that no person loSI m, ;
life this time for that might easily have happehc"