The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1920-03-04
CHILD IN PATH
Of RUNAWAY HAD
NARROW ESCAPE
Thrown from Little Sleigh but
Sustained No Injury
OTHER LIVES IN DANGER
Frightened Horses Dragged Big Sleigh
Through Main Street, Partly
on Sidewalk
OTHER LIVES IN DANGER

Several chlldren narrowly escaped
death or serious injury Thursday af-
ternoon when pair Of horses at
tached to three seated sleigh, the
property of the Taylor livery, ran
nearly the entire business section of
Main street. Roland ]. Taylor, who
was driving the horses, had bone In
his left hand broken, the little daugh-
ter of Mr.. and Mrs. Chelsea Harring-
ton was thrown from its baby sleigh
but was not injured and other chill
dren hurried out of the path OF the
frightened horses just in time to es~
cape One of the tugs in the harness
was broken but the horses were not
injured and the sleigh was not dam
aged.
The big sleigh had been used during
the afternoon to carry a number OF
persons to the funeral of Henry
Lyons held at the house on Park
street extension. The driver lef. the
last of his passengers at the Metho-
dist church where he attempted to
turn around as the horses were next
to be used on the Walbridge ambu-
lance which was to convey Max Web
ster, son of Mr.. and Mrs. Homer II.
Webster, who has been i'll OF pneu-
monia, to the Putnam Memorial hos
pital.
In attempting to make the turn one
of the sleigh runners caught on srol-
ley track rail and the vehicle was
overturned. The frightened horses at
once broke into a run. For brief
period of time the driver managed to
maintain his hold on the reins but
the rain was too severe and he was
obliged to release his grip. Just how
the bone in the back of his left hand
was broken is not known but the ac-
cident probably happened while he
was being threshed over the heaps Of
snow and ice with which the stree Is
obstructed.
Freed from the restraining hold of
the driver on the reins, the horses,
with the big sleigh dragging on its
side, continued their wild dash over
Eass Main street. At the corner Of
Silver street they turned to the right
and took to the sidewalk in front of
the library building where the most
miraculous feature Of the runaway
took place Mrs. Chelsea Harrington
had entered the library few minutes
previously leaving her little daughter
in her sleigh on the sidewalk The
child was apparently in the direct
path of the runaway horses and eye
wi nesses have not yet been able to
explain how she escaped.
Some portion of the harness or the
big sleigh caught the little sled, drag
ged it for about twenty feet and
rolled its occupant into the driveway
leading to DR.. l.. H. Ross's garage.
The child was wrapped in Blanket
and covered with robe and these
undoubtedly helped in protecting it
from injury in its fall. When picked
up the little girl was found TO have
escaped without a scratch and appar-
emily she was not much frightened by
her rough experience.
At the time Of the runaway, shortly
after 4 O'Clock, there were more than
the usual number of people on the
street including school children. Just
before the horses began their spec
tacular dash Mrs. Earl c. Whitaker
with her baby in sleigh had stopped
in front of the Walbridge sore and
was visiting with Mrs. Roy NJ. Pad
dock. One of the women seized the
baby and the other the sleigh and hur-
ried into the store just as the run
away shot by.
Another remarkable escape was
that of two of w. c. Firths children
w. c. jr., aged s, was passing the
Walbridge corner drawing upon a
sled his younger brother, Richard
aged II months. Attracted by the
shouting of the people on the street.
the older boy realized the approaching
danger in time to draw the sled
around the corner of the building.
Persons in the immediate vicinity at
the time said that the horses were on
ly few feet distance when the boys
found safety behind the east wall OF
the building
The runaway horses kept to the
until they reached the Nc
Cue marke at the corner of Main and
Union streets where they again
turned into the highway. At some.
point in the long dash the sleigh
righted itself and was on its runners
when the horses, then thoroughly ex-
hausted, were stopped near the Vial
store. fully half mile from where