A Football-Induced Carriage Accident
A leisurely morning drive in Walla Walla turns into a nightmare when a stray football startles a horse, resulting in serious injuries to a local woman.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Boys playing football in Birch Street near the First Presbyterian Church this morning caused a bad runaway accident in which Mrs. Chris Sturm, a well-known pioneer resident of Walla Walla county, sustained severe injuries about the head and body. Accompanied by Mr. Sturm, she was driving along the street when the boys accidentally punted the ball into the horse. The animal began to plunge, overturning the rig and dragging Mrs. Sturm, who was caught in the top of the buggy, for quite a distance. The horse finally stumbled and fell, and pedestrians rescued Mrs. Sturm from her perilous position. Dr. Nelms was summoned and found severe bruises and cuts about the head and body with a possible fracture of the hip. The unfortunate lady was taken into the residence of Rev. Gantz and was afterward removed to her home east of the city.
“The animal began to plunge, overturning the rig and dragging Mrs. Sturm... quite a distance.”
This incident highlights the chaotic friction between informal public play and 19th-century transit. Today, similar tensions arise between suburban traffic and the lack of dedicated, safe play spaces for children in our denser urban centers.
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