A Ghastly Industrial Hazard
A horse is destroyed after a horrific accident at a railroad switch.
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.
One of the strangest accidents ever brought to the attention of the city humane officers occurred at Seventeenth and Pacific Avenue this morning when a horse's hoof became caught in a switch frog of the T. R. P. tracks and was pulled completely off. The animal was shot soon afterwards at the order of Humane Officer Van Voris. The horse was the property of A. M. Button and was one of a team attached to a Tacoma Biscuit and Candy Company wagon. He was running briskly at the time of the accident.
“One of the strangest accidents ever brought to the attention of the city humane officers occurred... when a horse's hoof became caught in a switch frog.”
Pacific Avenue was once the industrial artery of Tacoma, defined by tracks and heavy transit; today, it is a pedestrian-friendly historic district. The 'switch frog' (the intersection of rails) was a known death trap for both animals and early transit workers in the era of horse-drawn heavy freight.
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