A PECULIAR ACCIDENT.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2366, 5 December 1908, Page 5

A PECULIAR ACCIDENT.

CAB AND HORSES IN THE RIVER

An accident of a most peculiar character, and one which might very easily have been attended with fatal results occurred last night, about 10 o’clock. A covered cab, drawn by two horses, and driven by a man named Neil Blackley was noticed by some bystanders in Carnarvon Street to be following a rather erratic course towards the Taruheru river. . They watched the progress of the vehicle, which approached the bank of the river at an unabated speed, and suddenly disappeared. The bank of the river is very low at this point, and upon reaching the river the onlookers discovered that the man had. driven straight over'the bank and that the vehicle, with the horses still attached, •was about a chain from the bank and sunk axle-deep in the mud. The police were telephoned .for, and when Constable Pratt arrived he found that both vehicle and horses had sunk still further in the mud, and that the driver, who had left his seat, was also waist-deep, and in a half-sit-ting, half-lying position. - Great difficulty was experienced in extricating the horses, but this was eventually accomplished, but all efforts to replace the vehicle on terra firma were of no avail. On attention being turned to the driver, the cause of the accident at once became apparent, and lie was arrested by Constable Pratt on a charge of drunkenness and lodged in the police cells. The horses were safely stabled for the night, but the vehicle still remained fast embedded in the mud, where it -would probably be floated off on the rising tide.