BUSH ACCIDENT AND DREADFUL SUFFERING.

Dunstan Times, Issue 668, 5 February 1875, Page 3

BUSH ACCIDENT AND DREADFUL SUFFERING.

[TROJI THE WAOOA ADVERTISER.] Recently a man named Robert Philips was brought into the Wagga Hospital with a broken leg, and the particulars of his misadventure present features of a more than ordinary interest. Philips is. a boundary rider, employed by Mr J. A. Dallas, upon the Kiidray station, under the management of Mr J. W. Edmonds. On tho morning of the 19th December he was sent by Mr Edmonds out on the run for the purpose of locking up some lambs for inspection. Having scon the lambs, he proceeded to an eld hut, formerly a shepherd’s station, with the intention of awaiting the at rival of Mr Edmonds and Mr Dallas. On reaching the hut he tied up his horse, and went to the door, when he found that two horses were shut up therein. He attempted to drive them out, and one of them, a vicious brute, reseated this interference and lashed out at him with his hind feet, striking the man in the left leg below the knee. The limb was broken, and bled profusely. Near the hut was somo water; to this Philips dragged himself after having taken off the boot from the injured and rapidly swollen limb. lie then bandaged the leg up as well as he could, and lay down faint from the loss of blood, resigning himself, as he says, with a prayer to Lis fate. Mustering of cattle and some operations with sheep on the station just then kept every one so fully employed that Mr Edmonds did not go out to see the lambs as intended, and Philips felt that he was certain to remain for two or three days at least in his agonising position before he could hope for succour. He was entirely without food, and in this way he lay till the evening of the third day, when he thought ho might muster strength to make his way to a track at some distance, as he judged that if he reached it his chance of being discovered soon would be greatly increased. He dragged himself along backwards for some time v ith this object away from tho water, but failed to find the track, lost hia way, and was forced to giveup the search from exhaustion. He was now without water as well as food, and here he remained until tho evenin'* of the fifth day. On that day Mr Edmonds rode out to the paddock in which Philip b’ duties lay, and not finding him at once concluded something was wrong. Reaching the hut, he discovered the boot which Philips had taken off, covered with blood. This, with the condition of the man’s horse, found wandering about wi hj broken and bedraggled bridle, convinced him that an accident had occnrre', and failing to trace Philips he at once proceeded to get the assistance of the station hands to make a search. With four of these the run was traversed, and towards evening, in answer to their calls, a faint cooey was heard which directed them to the spot where the sufferer lay in tho last stage of exhaustion. A spring cart was procured and Philips was brought to the hospital, and ho is now. under the treatment of a medical man, wonderfully well, taking into consideration tho dreadful suffering ho must have undergone, full of thankfulness for his escape, and loud in his praises of the sympathy and kindness ho received from Mr Edmonds.

HOW TO PREVENT A HORSE STUMBLING. William Douglas, late of thd 10th Hussars, writes as follows :—The cause which led to the sad and sudden death of Bishop Wilberforco must bo my apology for troubling you with this letter, having seen it stated that tho accident was probably duo to the fact of the horse not being sufficiently in hand. This, in my opinion, is, although a general, yet a very mistaken idea, for it has only been those horses ridden up to tho hand that 1 havo seen fall. If you tic a man’s arms to his side and give him a slight push, he will tumble down to a certainty, and ns surely will any horse fall if when ho stumbles his head is held up light, by tho rider attempting to keep tho animal up.. Just as a man finds it necessary when he stumbles to throw out his arms to keep himself from falling, the horse in the same manner, when similarly circumstanced, needs his head free to keep on Lis feet. It is quite a mistaken notion for any rider to imagine that by pulling tho reins ho can either lift his horse over a leap or upon his legs again after stumbling. A pull at the bit in a horse’s mouth will certainly cause him to throw his head up, but that very act'on causes the shoulders and knees of the animal to sink. We have only to watch an unmounted horse stumble, to notice how easily and naturally ho recovers hia footing by precisely opposite aids to what riding masters, as a rule, teach. A horse so circumstanced di ops his head and neck in order to relieve the shoulders of their weight, and when thus eased the animal can recoveries foothold upon theground ; but put upon him a dam-jock and fasten his head to it with a pair of reins, and I’ll guarantee, if ever he stumbles, down lie must come. During an experience extending now over thirty years, I never, knew a horse to fall from a mere stumble that was ridden with a loose rein, while, on the other hand., I have seldom seen a horse ridden, as it is termed “up to the bit,” who, if he tripped forgot to tumble as well, The only use of the bit and reins is to guide, * halt ’ or make horse rein back, and when we pretend we can do more than that with these articles, wo are simply attempting the impossible. If the rider’s feet rested upon the ground, then by using them as a power the horse might be raised a little, but not otherwise. A baker can lift his basket, but he could not do so with himself in it.