The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-02-12

Fifteen hundred people scattered alezg
Seca-s RYcnue 6stween Pike aEa Wash
tnrren streets Witnessed = mast fhrA.lnz
rfsrs~Rv Yesterday afternoon az so
C.c&oek Five hundred geeR.e SeEs N AZ
the nngsn. and as me taGgle OF horses.
waxarE ana harnesses W&S stre 81 te8ei
or. the driver q fae runEways Eas found
paune5 IN. bat BOT injured IN TIE least
rs korSas. strange % say. Suffered ofl-y
a fex bra sses and the wagon vas not
smashed % an appreciate exteat. Sat
a. Ter the express wagon and the horse
whish stored the runzways. Il was cit-
se-ent The shafts were broken of short
ana ire horses leg was apparently oadly
bruised. ~ n uch so, ia fac, that & walked
with dffficuIty ana while standing barely
rested It upon the ground.
The runaway team belonged 70 the
Queen City laundry and lis driver was r.
Ii Wheeler. who used 10 be oailtr Of the
rluuiciual cozrt. How ne escaped instant
death is = difficult matter 70 explain. Ey-
eryone who "a ~ thu horses tearing down
the street shuddered when they thought
ef the anal crasn, everyone who witnessed
the finish thought Wheeler was certainly
killed bat he was not. he cannot tell
himself how ne escaped or how re missed
running into a dozen teams during his
Wild ra-e Yet he did SO. There Is always
enc chance in a thousand OF escaping
from what appears certain death. Wheel
er Mas fortunate in striking that one
chance 4 hundred men Erasped him BY
the hand. ard this wss the substance OF
their remarks: Young man. you ala a
brave act in guiding those runaway horses
the length of Second avenue without run
ring doWn some enc. lou stuck 20 your
post Ike a man when Il looked IS Il you
would be killed - In the meantime Wheel
81 was bGsiiy engaged, with the assistance
OF BILLY Berry and l. W Harris. in co.,
lecflns his zig together. ana IN fifteen
minutes nc was driving Up Sscand avenue
slightly disGgured. but stu in the laundry
business.
The accident was due 70 a somewhat
skittlsh horse Wheeler was about done
with his work for the Gay and was driving
peacefully along Pike street. when the
horse comm cuced bohbing ana frisking
IL a most Alarming manner. Something
had str11.k its heels. Wheeler tried 10
steady the team. bsIt could not control
them. and away they went down Second
avenue as Il urged along by bolt OF light
ming.
People on the sidewalks stopped ard
looked at the flying horses in amazement
Some thought Il was a ease of fast driv-
tE.s, bat others saw at once the real sltua-
ton ard wondered how It would =rd. The
driver was utterly lest 10 what was GO
ing on around him. He chung TO the rens
with tight grip and steereI clear OF all
teams. As the horses reached the down.
town district II became = harder matter
to avoid collisions, and the horses. as II
pleas AZ the increase OF the downward
grade, ran faster and faster. Once. twice
three times. a sn2slI-Ip was Closely avoid
ed, and the crowd. anxious TO be in al the
wind-up. followed at run down the
street.
After passing Yesler way the street be-
came very rough. and every time the front
whee.s would strike a hole the driver
would be thrown from one side Of the
wagon 20 the other. Game to the last
he clung on and might have been driving
yet II Charles Doughertys single express
wagon had not been standing at the cor
ner OF Seoond avenue and Washington
street. in front OF BILLY Be.ond's saloon.
The horse was facing up the street IN a
northe2sterly direction and Dousherty had
Slst Jumped in 10 drive home. lie hardly
rad time to figure out what had taken
place when the runaway team smashed
into his riS. 1t was sight seldom seen.
Wagons. horses, shafts and stray bits OF
harness all IN n upheavaf. and then in a
PIE. The shafts OF Dougherty's wagon
were broken of as II they had been pipe
stems and bis horse went down like
shot. The other horses suffered the same
fate. Driver Wheeler was psnned up in
the laundry wagon, but was soon out and
hilstlIng around for an inventory Of his
outfit. which had fortunately come out
much better than could have possibly
been expected. Dougherty was not in
jufed IN the least. Someone asked what
Dougherty did when the crash came. An
eyewitness. or AZ least one who claimed
that honor, yelled back. 'sDougherty didn't
do thing but get IF that wagon as II he
had been kicked on 2" Whecler's horses
did not show signs % injury az al One
OF them had a scratch on one leg. from
(which a little blood eoze3 out. but that
was al Dougherty's horse was hurt on
one front leg.