A Close Encounter with a Barnyard Kicker
A White Bluffs man learns the hard way why it is safer to stand at a horse's head than behind its heels.
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.
While Joseph Cuppa was leading a team of well-fed and fractious young horses from the barn Sunday morning, the horse in the lead suddenly let fly both feet in Mr. Cuppa’s direction. Cuppa proved himself a good receiver, as he stopped both feet—one with his chin and the other with his left hand. The horse was just about the right distance away for him to receive the full force of the kick. He was carried to the drug store by L. C. Schell and Dad Shahan, and first aid remedies applied. While recovering from the effects of the smash-up, Mr. Cuppa has developed a decided preference for standing at the horses’ heads.
“Cuppa proved himself a good receiver, as he stopped both feet—one with his chin and the other with his left hand.”
This accounts for the grit and dangers of manual labor in rural 1916 Washington. While White Bluffs was later inundated by the Hanford site, the small-town agricultural hazards recorded in the local press reveal a community built on animal-powered labor and immediate, neighborly first aid.
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