Uncle Dick and Lisa's Old Time Animal Tales

Published in the Chicago Daily Tribune on June 22, 1879

Dangers to Life and Limb incident to the Highway.

Proportionately More Killed and Wounded than on Railroads.

In Seven Weeks 59 Runaways, 44 Persons Injured, and five Killed.

     Few people have any conception of the infinite risk and danger to which are subject from runaway teams and furious driving. The annexed list covers a period of seven weeks and contains the serious accidents during that time as reported by the police. It does not, however, represent more than one-third of the runaways, for where no person in injured, no report is made. It will prove instructive reading:

The Record

May 1, Julius Stoenr, a medical student, was knocked down while endeavoring to stop a runaway horse and buggy on the corner of State and Washington streets, and his left arm broken below the shoulder. The team was owned by Dr. Hawks, 271 Dearborn avenue.

3. John Lyman was thrown from a team driven by Henry Rawson, near the corner of Canalport avenue and Halsted street, and badly injured about the head. Rawson was thrown out but not injured.

6. Henry Fosberg, 8 years of age, 818 Market street, was run over by a hack driven by some person unknown. One wheel passed over his chest, injuring him severely.

     Two powerful horses attached to a loaded ice-wagon belonging to the North Side Ice Company ran away on Sedgwick street, and turning on Chicago avenue smashed a lamp-post and letter-box, and finally collided with a farm wagon.

7. Horse and buggy owned and driven by William Mason collided with Randolph street car No. 306. The car horses broke loose, and one ran into a lumber wagon and was severely injured.

10. John McCarty, 3 years old, while playing on the street, was run down on the corner of Halstead and Monroe streets by a wagon driven by Charles Bush. His injuries were slight.

11. An American Express wagon smashed a letter-box on the corner of Clark and South Water streets.

11. James Conley, 7 years old, instantly killed on Bunker street by a truck owned by Armour & Co.

12. Team belonging to Philip Lang ran away on Halsted street anf smashed a Lanp-post.

      Horse attashed to a buggy owned by W. H. Wells & Bro., of No. 48 Franklin street, ran away from there and collided with C. Schultz’s grocery wagon, badly injuring his horse.

     Team attached to hack No. 112 ran off from in front of the Tremout, smashed the carriage, and ran into a Randolph street car, killing one of the horses. Total damage, $500.

     Horse attached to a light wagon, driven by Adan Conrad, of Mokena, Ill., ran away at South Water street. The wagon was smashed against one of the posts of the Clark street bridge, and Conrad, a man of nearly 60, sustained such injuries that he died on the following day. 

18. An unknown man was run down near the corner of Union and Hubbard streets by a horse and buggy driven by Julius Anderson, of No. 311 West Division street. The man fell on the street-car track, and was trampled on by the horses attached to a passing car. He died in a few minutes.

     A team and hack owned by Hoffman & Amberg ran over Bessie Wilson, 3 years old, on the corner of Green and Madison streets. Injuries slight.

     Mrs. Niell, of 5 Hubbard street, was run over on Canal street by a buggy driven by Louis Powell. Her injuries were not serious.

     Mrs. Gallman, of 99 Miller street, while signaling a street-car at the corner of Taylor street and Blue Island avenue, was driven by J. F. Potter, and sustained some severe bruises.

     J. E. Jones’ horse and buggy ran off from in front of 133 West Madison street, but the rig was not greatly damaged.

18. Hobart Herkenberger, 9 years of age, living at No. 589 Jefferson street, was kicked in the face by a horse owned by Philo Corkell, and had four teeth knocked out.

     Mr. Tunstall, residing at the Palmer House, was thrown from his buggy at Thirteenth street and Wabash avenue and terribly cut about the head.

19. George Webber, 5 years old, living at No. 160 Green street, was run over by T. B. Read’s ice-wagon while trying to cross the intersection of Green and Indiana streets. His hand was badly cut and his left leg broken in two places.

     Joseph Lubski and John Hupka, residing in Emma street, were thrown from a buggy, and Lubski sustained a fracture of two ribs and some severe bruises on the head.

21. E. Prentice and George Threipland were thrown from a buggy near Twelfth-street viaduct. Neither of them was severely injured.

     George Middleman, while riding in a Milwaukee-avenue street-car, had a rib broken by the shaft of a coal-cart running through the side of the car.

22. Horse attached to Herman Leon’s butcher-wagon ran away on South Water street and wrecked two wagons, besides injuring a horse.

24. Albert E. Dore’s team ran off on West Madison street, and collided at Paulina street with car No. 332, damaging it considerably and injuring one of the car-horses.

     Margaret Griffin, aged 60, was knocked down by a buggy owned and driven by C. E. Wiswail while attempting to cross the street at the intersection of Clark and Washington streets, and was severely injured.

     Joseph Leduc, 4 years old, No. 101 Bunker street, was run down on the corner of Desplaines and Bunker streets, by a brick-wagon driven by John Matson.

     Charles Zimlo and another smashed their buggy and damaged a Lincoln avenue street-car near Fullerton avenue. The buggy was smashed and the driver and one passenger on the car were thrown off.

27. George Beaubien, aged 12, was run down on the corner of School and Desplaines street by a horse and buggy driven by some person unknown.

28. John Hogan, 48 Thirteenth place, was run over by a horse and buggy driven by Henry Hechman.

     Team attached to a wagon ran off on South Union street, and at the corner of Lake street, ran into a horse and wagon driven by Louis Pankey.

     Team attached to wagon ran off from in front of No. 13 Halsted street, and at Randolph street, collided with a horse and wagon driven by James Sweeney. Sweeney was badly bruised.

     Horse attached to Jacob Pinney’s buggy ran off on Chicago avenue, and near Franklin street, smashed up D. E. Mitchell’s buggy. P. B. Foley, who was riding in the first-named vehicle, was badly bruised about the left rib.

29. Edward Gay’s team ran off with his buggy on Ashland avenue, and Gay was thrown out and severely bruised.

31. Willie Cornell, 8 years old, was run over on the corner of Morgan and Randolph streets by J. B. Able’s milk-wagon. His right leg was broken below the knee, left leg and arm sprained, and the body badly bruised. In this case the fault appeared to be with the child, who was playing ball.

     Charles McWilliams, 13 years old, had his right leg badly jammed between the wheel and wagon-box of one of Keeley’s beer-wagon on Archer avenue.

     A horse attached to a buggy owned by L. Frank ran away on Curtis street and collided with an Indiana street-car. Miss Ellen McGuire, a passenger on the car, was severely injured by broken glass. The horse broke its legs and was shot by an officer.

     One of Kaseberg & Co.’s lumber-wagon teams ran off Hobbie street. John Abney, aged 27, tried to stop the runaways, but slipped, and both wheels of the wagon passed over him, causing instant death.

June 2. A horse and buggy, driven by a drunken man with two other passengers, while proceeding at a furious rate over the Milwaukee avenue viaduct, struck Mrs. Jane Farley, aged 60, causing such injuries as to necessitate her removal to the Hospital.

3. C. H. Boynton, lighthouse-kepper, was run down on Canal street by a horse and wagon owned by George Auer, of No. 180 West Twelfth street.

     T. Patzack & Co.’s team ran off with a heavy wagon on Monroe street, and at State street ran into and smashed a buggy. No one hurt.

     Mrs. Maypole, of No. 39 Plum street, was run over by one of Brand’s beer-wagons driven at a furious rate by Adam Hembes. One of her ribs was broken, and she received other injuries.

4. James Redden, 9 years old, was run over on West Lake street by a horse and buggy driven by Albert Runge.

5. A team belonging to the Calvary Cemetery Company ran off Canal street, smashed a pickle-wagon on Randolph, and did other damage.

7. Mrs. Kokel was run over in an alley in the rear of 39 Clybourn avenue by a light wagon driven by Edward Cane.

9. Horse-cart No. 17 collided with a truck wagon at Lake street bridge, and the horse was so badly injured that it had to be killed.

     John Wolf’s lumber-wagon collided with Mandel Bros.’ delivery-wagon on Kinzie street. Wolf was thrown out, and Gustav Fisk also received some injuries.

10. Team attached to a brick-wagon ran away from the corner of Larrabee and Menominee streets, and smashed a wagon and a lamp-post.

     A horse attached to a buggy driven by Matt Toomey ran away on Twenty-sixth street, near State. Toomey was thrown out and the wheels passed over him, injuring his legs. The runaway struck the curbing at Michigan avenue, and the horse had to be killed.

14. John G. Ehrhoff, of No. 220 Freeman street, was thrown from his buggy, on Indiana street, and his right leg broken.

     A boy named Peter Fritz was run over on Thirty-first and Clark streets by Wercke Bros. grocery wagon, and received some severe cuts and bruises.

16. Team owned by the Empire Warehouse Company ran into Dr. Clark’s buggy on the corner of Market and Madison streets. Nobody killed.

     Ralph Knight, 6 years old, was run down down by a wagon driven by John Moore, and was badly bruised.

18. An infant son of Andrew Herman, of No. 152 Hastings street, was struck by the pole of a wagon drawn by a runaway team and instantly killed.

     A newsboy named Abraham Cassanger was run over outside The Tribune office by a buggy driven by Mr. Munton, of No. 85 Madison street, who attemped to drive off, but was detained.

19. A horse attached to a buggy driven by C. F. Camp ran off on Twelth street, and one of the shafts of the buggy ran into the breast of a horse driven by Daniel Corkery, of 440 Twenty-second street.

     Mrs. Dorothy Young and Mrs. Eliza Baumgarten were thrown from a buggy on State street, near Sixteenth. Mrs. Young broke her right arm and the other lady was severely injured.

     Mr. H. A. Christy was thrown from his buggy on Michigan  avenue and was badly bruised.

20. Daniel Ryan, of 61 Henry street, fell under a Blue Island avenue car and the front wheel passed over his foot, crushing it at the instep.

     A hay-wagon collided on Halsted street with car No. 121, and Michael Butler, driver of the wagon, was thrown to the ground and severely injured.

     Charles Ducharme, 9 years old, was run down by a horse on the corner of Clark and Van Buren streets, and received injuries which may result very seriously.