A Violent Collision in Front of the New Opera House
A frightened team of horses pulling a vegetable wagon caused a severe accident, leaving a valuable Percheron horse seriously wounded.
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.
A team attached to a Chinese vegetable wagon became frightened yesterday morning and came dashing down Marion street at a breakneck rate. When in front of Frye's new opera house they collided with Frank McCoomb's team of fine gray Percherons, which were hitched to a wagon load of brick. The force of the collision was so great that the gray team fell, and the animals hitched to the vegetable cart went down on top of them. After a time the horses were separated, and it was found that one of the grays had been struck fair in the breast by the end of the tongue of the Chinaman's wagon and was seriously hurt. Blood fairly spurted from the great, ugly wound, which looked to be three or four inches deep. The poor animal was taken to the stable and cared for, but it is feared he will not dwell. He is a fine specimen of his breed, valued at $300.
“Blood fairly spurted from the great, ugly wound, which looked to be three or four inches deep.”
This collision, occurring where major construction like Frye’s Opera House was underway, captures a moment of transition in Seattle’s infrastructure when busy urban streets were still dominated by horse-drawn transit.
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