The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1908-03-28
QUEER ACCIDENTS.
Some OF the Strange Mishaps That
Occurred the Past Year.

me haclneyed saying about truth
peing stranger than fiction is constant
" brought to mind by incidents of
everyday life. Things happen which
no novelist would dare invent. ana
llVes are lost in the most wildly i'm
probable fashion
Take the following as an example:
Great Western train was running
between Bristol and London when an
extraordinary tragedy took place in Il
thlrd-claSs carriage. A woman trying
10 open bottle of whisky broke the
cork. Having no corkscrew she tried
70 force the cork into the bottle with
her thumb. The bottle exploded. and
jagged splinter of glass Gashed her
thigh, cutting an artery She bled to
death in a few minutes.
Another woman. wife of miner at
a place called Cheboygan. Mich, lost
ner Ire in even stranger fashion. Her
t-year-old boy had played trudnt from
school, and when he came home she,
remembering the old proverb 'lbout
sparing the rod, chastised him with a
strap. At the very first blow there was
a fearful explosion. The boy was kill
ed instantly, and his mother received
injuries from which she did not IT,
cover. Investigation proved that The
little fellow had stolen a dynamite cap
and slowed il in one of his trousers
pockets. The blow from the strap had
exploded it.
One does not expect to lose ones
life through a visit to the dentist. let
such case happened in August last.
working man went to the dentist to
have an aching grinder extracted. The
tooth was an obstinate one, and in try
ing to get good grip of it with 5js
fOTnpnc r .
head back further than usual There
was sudden crack, and the man col
lapsed. Horror stricken, the dentist
realized that in forcing back the hcaG
he had broken his patients neck
Strange things happen in the streets.
One day in September last a lufsa,
harnessed TO a van, pulled up suddenly
in the middle of the main thoroughfare
on the south side of Trafalgar square
and stood there as if rooted to tie
spot Everything possible was done TO
induce the animal to proceed, but it
fatty refused to bulge. A huge crowd
collected, and traffic became absolutely
blocked. For two hours and a half
by the clock that horse remained where
he stood. Even when the harness was
taken off and a dozen men tried 20 lit
him away he refused to surrender. At
last the verdict went forth that he
must die, and, a gun being brought, he
was shot. The police say that the in
cident is unique in the history of Lon
don streets.
A much more terrible accident was
in Sloane square one Sunday
night in the same month. The Geek
of the petrol tank of a London motor
broke off The bus was stop
ped and the driver got down and plug
ged the hole with his thumb, While
the conductor went back with a lamp
to look for the plug. When he got
back the driver was still holding on
TO the leak, but by this time was soak
ed with petrol. The conductor paused
to ask lady passenger to get nff. Sud
denly there was a flash and a report,
and the omnibus burst into flames.
Next instant the horrible sight was
seen of the driver all abaZe running
up the street, living torch. Men ran
to the rescue and flung coats over MIN.
But it was too late. He died or his
injuries. What had happened was this:
The escaping petrol had run away in a
stream down the gutter. A passcr by |
had dropped a match or cigarette end, |
and the inf1ammable liquid had burst |
INTO fame, and the fire had run back |
up the gutter to the bus. and thus set |
ire to the unfortunate driver.
And it will suffice if we barely men
ion the terrible caisson accid ent at |
8lackfriars. London, the details OF |
which viii be fresh in the minds of |
most as one of the most odd, as well |
rs terrible, which have occurred in |
on