The sun., 1901-05-23
HORSES TRAVEL IN MIDAIR:
If YOUR TEAM FAILS INTO THE JB-
WAY LEAVE IT TO SEAMAN.

Tunnel Engineer Is Just the MAn-Two 4. $,
Express Grays knocked Into the aO-Foot
/ Fourth Avenue Fit by a Trolley Car 4 ONE
| scootlng Up Again by Steam Trolley.
| A trolley car bunted team Of gray United
States Express horses into the 4O-foot
tunnel excavation in Fourth avenue yester-
| dav afternoon and trolley derrick lifted
| them out and ferried them like buckets
Of earth through the air 10 "A safe landing
| on the surface.
This was on the block between Eleventh
| and Twelfth streets, where llolbro0k.
| Cabot * DAILY are the contractors. They
| had 25O men at work on the block yesterday
| and are about ready TO put the roof on the
| tunnel. The opening In the street extends
| No Fourth avenue from Tenth street 10 n
| point 100 feet below the corner of Twelfth
street. directly opposite Hill BIOS. build
| Ing at lO8 Fourth avenue. II extends
| from the western curb 10 the downtown
| car tracks and il fenced in with planking
| nailed 10 uprights that rise four feet above
| the ground. 4 watchman Is employed
| to keep horses and wagons away from the
fence. The north end Of the cut is incloscd
| by a fence made by the ends Of the upright
| snoring planks. Between this end fence
| and a wooden shanty north of It which
| shelters the hosting engine there is slice
! of the pavement that has not been dug mp.
| This was left to give wagons a chance
| 10 back in
Wagon G57 Of the United States Express
Company. in charge Of Driver James Horan.
was backed up there yesterday afternoon
al 4 o'clock The driver had put on a load
| Of goods and was driving out when down
| town Fourth avenue car came along The
shanty ubstruCted the express drivers
view He had his team ont on the track
when he got glimpse of the car, and 10
save the horses he swung them around
TO the right Their noses touched the
end fence of the tunnel.
A second later the car struck one of the
wheels Of the express wagon and carried
| the wagon along ilvc feet, forcing the horses
against the tunnel fence The two-nCh
planks broke. and the Off horse plunged
| headlong down between the shores and
gas pipes 10 the bottom Of the tunnel.
The harness saved the other horse for "A
minute. lie was caught under the collar
by the top Of an upright plank and hung
there The driver shouted for some one
10 get planking 10 put under the swinging
horse. The horse was kicking and trying
to get his head loose Finally he twisted
il ont Of the collar and down he went
The crowd looked down into the hole
and saw one horse lying across the other,
forty feet below. The animals appeared
| 10 be dead Finally one of them scrambled
10 his feet and stepping over HIS mate,
nosed around as II looking for the way
| out. Then the other borse raised his head.
/ Seeing that both We're alive Policeman
| Kennedy teephoned TO the Bergh Society.
| The society sent horse ambulance equipped
| with slings, ropes handagcS, bedding and
linlInpnt and two veterinary surgeons.
\ horse ambulance used 10 be modern,
| but II * an ANTIQUE compared 20 n modern
| contractors ambulatpry devices The
| laborprs who had been al work IN the tunnel
| al a point a hundred feet further south,
! had scrambled out when the crush came.
| They thought tile street had Caved in.
| When they learned what had happcnei
! they went down into the hole and helped
| 10 make the horses comfortable
| Then a popular discussion arose as 20
| the best method Of getting the horses out.
| One man in the crowd said u horse could
not live after falling forty feet, lie Sug-
| resfed that the horses DE shot Another
| thought the horses ought 10 be blind'C'ded
and led up n runway which could be- butt
| i'm n few hours still another thought
! tho tunnel contractors ought TO buy the
horses and keep them in the tunnel to drag
sand and stone.
charge of the Twelfth street section Of the
| tunnel. arrived, accompanied by Supt.
| OIeary, who bosses the Job from Third
street 10 Tllirtie,h.
| Just leave Il 10 Seaman" said the tunnel
SUPERINTENDENT brushing the crowd aside,
Hell get those horses out quicker than
| they Went in
When the horse ambulance got there the
tunnel engineer asked for a sling. This is
| "A strCtChcr to carry horses II X made Of
! canyas with leather bellyhandS and hip
pTaps. one Of the big gray horses was
strapped IN the sling by the Bergh men
while the tunnel engineer rugged up hrs
! trolley derrick The trolley runs north
out II the end Of the cut TO spot Just
south Of the hoist engine. The chain
! usually attached to the dredging bucket
! was hitchrd to the sling with the horse in II.
! Engineer Seaman slglalled 90 the man at
| the hOstlng engine. Ihe engine puHcd
and up came the horse. They had TO take
| him ont through siX-fOot space and steady
| him with blanks to keep him away from the
| pipes and shores. They holst"d him up
| out of the hole and then ten feet above the
! ground and slid him along the trolley cable
| like dredging bucket.
In the meantime the Fourth avenue car
| line was blocked Nlotormen who said they
wanted 20 give the passengers chance TO
! rubberneCk held ;heir cars. and managed
| Themselves to see all that was going on.
| TIE crowd on the streets, numbering sew
| eral hundred men and women, sent up
cheer when they saw the live horse in the
mir The horse was Slid along 10 the dump
ing place aud then lowered 10 the pavement
When he had been released from the
sling he shook himself and looked around
nj the crowd Horan the driver. pattcd
him on the nose and the horse nbblcd at
the drivers hand
Again the trolley derrick was put TO
work and he second horse was raised
from the tunnel The crowd sighed In
unison AZ they saw blood trickllng from
a cut on his head The two horses were
lod around the corner 10 Twelfth street,
There they were examined by the vets who
said that neither had been badly hurt,
One had been cut and bruised about the
head and shoulder, but the other had not
visible scratch.