The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1939-08-31

Il pulled and jerked at the rens until 1 brought the horse to a STOP"
stones and gravel, in a way that struck terror into my heart The
teacher and I yer helpless.
I'VE called and screamed to mother, pleading with her to let go of
the lines. but all our screaming useless, for mother vas in al II.
conscious condition. clinging to those reins with a death grip while the
horse dragged her along"
And, for half a mile, mother dragged along beside the Keeling
wagon in imminent danger Of rolling under the wheels, while up
in the seat Mary and the teacher sat paralyzed with fear. trying
to hang o n to the swaying, Keeling buggy.
Mary says that buggy ws running m two wheels a good part Of the
time. And at other times it seemed to be flying through the air. with
nothing under the wheels at all.
Several men along the road had tried to stop the horse, but couldn't
mothers hands loosened on the reins and the lines were free. They got
between the horses front legs, and that only served to frighten the
poor animal more.
The GARDENING Carriage Flew Down the Road.
Still the Keeling. careenmg carriage few on. They had covered more
than a mile and now they were within a short distance of a narrow
culvert just outside of the business section of La Sale. There were
pillars OF either side OF it, and it would be a miracle if the crazed horse
got through that cramped space without wrecking the buggy.
The teacher was the first one to think of that culvert. She
screamed to Mary that If the horse couldn't be stopped before
they reached it they would both be killed.
"And with her voice still ringing in my ears" says Mary,
"she rose to her feet stood on them for a moment OF the swaying
floor of the buggy-and jumped! 1 shut my eyes as 1 heard her
body hit the road, and thought that surely she must have been
And now. Mary a left alone in that speeding buggy. She knew
that somehow she had to get hold of those rens that were dragging
down there beneath the horses feet. Just a little way ahead. now, was
the culvert And even if the buggy did get through the culvert, it was
certain to crash into something in the business district two blocks be-
yond. So while the buggy reeled and swayed, Mary began climbing over
the dashboard, onto the horses back.
It was a desperate chance. Time and again Mary almost lost her hold
in that precarious trip. The horse was slippery with foam and perspra.
ton, and only by bracing her feet against the shaft did she manage to
keep from being thrown into the road.
Il reached the horses head" she says, land the feel of my
body OF her seemed to frighten her all the more, and make her
60 faster than ever But got the lines from between her legs
and started inching my way back to the buggy"
Il pulled and jerked at the rens until brought the horse to a
halt" she says. land it stopped just a few feet in front of the dreaded
culvert. A boy ran up to hold the animal, and I left the buggy and ran
into town to get a doctor for mother. She WI still unconscious when
they brought her in. and to this day she carries. o the right side of her
face, the terrible marks Of that horrfying experience"
Mary says she's glad the horse and buggy days are over because
well because she wouldn't want any of her children to have such an
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