One Hundred Years Ago Today - 28 January 1911 - Horses Crash into Fish Shop

We take it for granted today that we can go everywhere and do everything in motorized vehicles, and yet it was only 100 years ago that these were in their infancy, and horse drawn transport was still the most common way of getting around.

The Sydney Morning Herald from Australia on the 28st January 1911 included a short story about a lorry (truck) that was being driven up a hill, when the horses became alarmed, causing the driver to lose control.

As a result, the horses and their attached vehicle ended up crashing into a fish shop, breaking the window, and causing an injury to one of the horses.

HORSES CRASH INTO FISH SHOP

A sensational bolt occurred in William Street, Darlinghurst, at about 5:30 yesterday. Herbert Blackall was driving a two-horse lorry up the hill, and when near Duke Street, the horses became restive, and, getting out of the control of the driver, dashed across the road onto the footpath. The frightened animals then crashed into a fish shop, kept by Isaac Fernandez, on the corner of Duke and William Streets. The window of the shop was smashed, and the grating of the cellar broken, whilst the woodwork of the shop was severely damaged. One of the horses, too, was badly cut by the broken glass.

Apart from the fancy old fashioned use of the English language in the story, it makes us realize that only 100 years ago, goods being delivered in a lorry (truck/cart) pulled by horses, had been the standard way of doing things for thousands of years.

Here we are, at a historic point in time, where life for people all around the world is beginning to change, and stories like this were to be seen no more within the next 20 years.

The other thing that I reflected on, is the pace of the incident. The horses, bolting out of control across the road, might at best have reached 10 miles per hour, maybe a little more, but probably even less. They still caused a significant amount of damage, let alone to one of the horses, whose fate was not specified.

In our modern world, if there was an accident involving a car or truck that was only going at 10 miles per hour, it would be considered a rare blessing. The speed at which we travel in today's world means that when something goes wrong, the consequences are more severe, and they frequently are, with many lives lost each year in road accidents, and multiple pileups as well, sometimes involving over 100 vehicles.

In a way, the horses getting out of control, could be seen as the old fashioned version of the sticking accelerator pedal, or other vehicle fault. At least back then it wasn't necessary to recall millions of trucks or horses to have defaults fixed.

I hope you enjoyed this short journey back in time, and if so, you might enjoy the other articles in this series, that are listed below.

Sources:

Sydney Morning Herald

Other Articles In This Series:

One Hundred Years Ago - 21 January 1911 - Journey On A Branch Line

One Hundred Years Ago Today - 11 January 1911 - on Safari in Deepest Africa

One Hundred Years Ago Today - 6 January 1911 The Rise Of The Commercial Automobile