St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1889-11-14
SHOCKING ACCIDENT.
Miss Bertha Il. Gates Thrown from he1
Horse, DRAGGED through the Street and
Killed.

Miss Bertha A. Gates Thrown from her
Horse, Dragged through the Street and
Killed.
One of the most shocking and
startling accidents that has ever oc-
Cured in our village happened yes
terday afternoon, when Miss Bertha
A. Gates was thrown from her horse,
her foot catching in the stirrup,
dragged through our streets and
brought home dead. Her father was
a witness to the whole affair, and
followed in the horses wake unable
to rescue his daughter, yet fully real
izing her awful fate.
Miss Gates started out for a ride
about o'clock in her usual buoyant
spirits and upon her fathers horse,
which she had ridden considerably
this summer. After riding up and
down Summer street she came quite
near where her father was standing,
when a double team drove up behind
the animal This seemed to startle
the horse and he jumped and SHE'D
little, and SO suddenly that Miss
Gates slipped out of the saddle to the
ground. In falling her foot caught in
the stirrup, which was what is COM
monty called the old-fashioned stir
rup in distinction from the shoe stir
rup. Some think that her fall was
caused by the saddle slipping, but it
seems to be the prevalent belief that
the saddle did not slip. Of course she
fell directly under the horse, and the
animal becoming frightened started
up the street at rapid gait.
Mr.. Gates and a relative of the
family were standing by his house at
the time and saw the horse start
away. At the very first he saw the
horse give his daughter a severe kick.
A medical examination afterward
showed that she had received Sc
we're blow directly over the heart. If
this did not cause instant death it
undoubtedly rendered her insensible
to further injuries. Mr.. Gates at
once started after the horse and fol-
lowed it through the front yards of
the houses on the west side of Sum-
mer street and around Mt. Pleasant
street and down Spring street to the
residence of Charles S. Hastings,
where the horse was stopped by the
workmen employed on w. L. Pearls
new house. The lady's foot was re-
moved from the stirrup, and the
body, which had been almost strip
ped of its clothing, tenderly COW
cred and taken to her home.
Besides the injuries over the heart
there were severe gashes on the top
of the head and on the thigh and
bruises on every part of the body.
Miss Bertha Gates was 21 years
old and the second daughter Of Rev.
and Mrs. M. A. Gates. The family
have, with one interval, resided here
about a dozen years and Mr.. Gates
has preached in many of the Congre-
gational pulpits in this vicinity. The
victim of this dreadful accident was
a lovely young lady, beloved by all
who knew her and a devoted Chris
tian. She was a brilliant scholar
and was fitting herself for a life of
much usefulness. She graduated
from our Academy in the class of 'S4,
taking the highest rank in the class
She graduated at Wellesley college
last June with an excellent record for
scholarship. 1t was her plan to COM
plete her education abroad and she
was to have spent the coming year
at Berlin with her brother, Owen H.
Gates, who has been in Europe for
several months. The blow is a crush
ing one to the bereaved family and
they have the heart felt sympathy of
all. Seldom has this community
been so shocked as at this sad affair.
The time of the funeral is not vet de-
termined as it is hoped Mr.. Gates
eldest daughter, Mrs. George II. Gil
bert of Chicago, may be able to reach
here tomorrow or next day.