Evening star., 1944-04-30
Countrified Horse Comes to the CITY
BY JOE BRENNAN.

clear, track fast" Spring was in
the air, the grass was green and
Nellie took off.
Nellie is horse. bought only
Friday from a Maryland farmer by
"Bub'' McDuff1e. colored huckster
of 459 Kings Court NV Nellie s
destiny was to pull Mr.. McDuffie S
fish wagon about Washington's
streets.
Nellie's immediate superior was
| James I. Henderson, A, colored, 479
Ridge street NV, who is Mr.. Nc
DUTIES most trusted driver He
knows both horses and fish, accord
ing to Mr.. McDuff1e
He may know fish, but, appar-
emily. he doesn't know horses, not
country horses.
Mr.. Henderson made the sad
error yesterday of stopping at a
harness store while driving Nellie
to the fish market to pick up q
load. He pulled Nellie up before
harness store in the 1000 block of
Seventh street NV, and entered
the store.
Now, only God and track handi-
cappers know what horses think
A harness store could mean harness,
or it could mean a whip. Maybe
Nellie didn't like the traffic, for
after all, it was her first day in the
big city. At any rate, Nellie took
off.
Down Seventh street she went
and wasn't that fish wagon a
bother!
Cab First Objective.
Charles Newworth, 1886 North
Howarton street, Arlington, Va.
driving a nice, shiny taxicab, was
Nellie's first objective.
Wham! No more wagon. Sew
|enth and K streets NV. was the
scene of that one.
Across the street was Hahn's
bright, newly decorated window,
full of shoes. Nellie made for the
display. She jumped through the
plate glass window, scattering shoes
all over the place and into Seventh
street.
Citizens fed, as the newspapers
say. Women screamed, strong men
blanched-especially the manager
of the shoe store-and trafic
stopped as Nellie paused, momen-
tarily.
Then. leaping out of the window,
she galloped west on New York ave-
nue..
Flight Leads to Tragedy.
Here Nellie's spree ceased to be
funny.
She charged across a streetcar
loading platform near the Public
Library and trampled Samuel P.
Paris, 81, Of 1923 Eighth street
NV. Dozens of others waiting on
the platform ran clear when the
horse bore down upon them, but
Mr.. Paris couldn't escape.
He is in Casualty Hospital with a
compound skull fracture, broken
ribs and fractures of the hip and
ankle. His condition is serious, hos
pital attaches said last night.
Mamie Nicholson, Al, Route 5,
Anacostia, also was knocked down
by the bewildered horse, but sus-
tanned only slight decorations of the
knees. She was treated at Emerg-
ency Hospital and sent home.
Pedestrians in the vicinity of the
Public Library were, by now, in a
panic.
What with all the shouting, auto
horns and policemen's whistles.
Nellie was panic stricken, too.
Also, her stomach, legs and flanks
were hurt. That shoe store WIN
dow =.
Down Eighth street. Autos at E
street. Turn right. --~----'--''=
Hits Another Taxi.
AT Eleventh and streets. another
taXicab loomed ahead. Ray H.
Brown, 1928 Clay place NE, was
driving.
Boxed in by automobiles, Nellie
couldn't avoid hitting the cab. With
sickening thump, the frightened
animal collided with the car,
1t hurt.
Nellie turned south on Eleventh
street and Star delivery drivers.
lounging about waiting for the next
edition to come off the presses
cornered her-or thought thev did
Nellie, sick and dismayed at the
Pandora's Box she had opened when
she shed the fish wagon, let herself
be captured by the drivers and q
policeman. Jack Hayes of the first
precinct.
Nobody was angry with Nellie The
ponceman was sympathetic. He ap-
pileo tourniquets to her legs, believ-
ing the gashes from the store
window glass had cut an artery
They hadn't. All the wounds were
superficial.
The Star drivers were solicito,s
100. They stroked her banged-up
nose. That shoe store window
photographers took her picture
ana pressmen fed her lump sugar
from lunchroom across the street.
Nellie Goes Home,
AAie 11uhidle oOcleUy sent a vet
erlnarian who took Nellie home to
stable in the rear of 4l9 New
York avenue NV.
Mr.. McDuffie wasn't mad. either
He was awfully sorry for Nellie
With tender care, he rubbed her
with iniment and applied peroxide
to her cuts.
I
A little while after Nellie arrived
nome, truck laden with bales of
nay, ordered Friday, arrived.
sLast night, Nellie, after a sumptu-
Gus dinner of fresh country hav
"asheo down by bucket Of cool
water, had stopped quivvering.
Tomorrow Nellie will go back to
her new job of pulling McDuffie S
fish wagon
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