A Terrifying Buggy Ride in Elma
A quiet Sunday excursion turned into a medical emergency when a runaway horse left a local man severely injured.
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.
Last Sunday, while S. B. Reynolds and Benjamin Whiting, familiarly known as 'Uncle Ben,' were enjoying a buggy ride in the western part of town, the horse became frightened and ran away, throwing Mr. Whiting from the seat. He was in some manner caught and dragged some distance, and when assistance arrived, he was picked up apparently lifeless. He was carried to the house of A. Berberich. Dr. Blair was summoned and it was found that Mr. Whiting had his right shoulder broken, besides being bruised all over and sustaining several severe contusions on the back of his head. He remained unconscious until Thursday, and hopes are now entertained that he will recover.
“He was in some manner caught and dragged some distance, and when assistance arrived, he was picked up apparently lifeless.”
Accidents involving runaway teams were a staple of life in the 1890s, functioning much like modern traffic reports. Today, Elma remains a hub for rural Grays Harbor, though the primary danger for commuters has shifted from spooked horses to highway collisions.
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