| "Stopped Just in Time," New-York Daily Tribune (October 13, 1892) "Stopped Just in Time," New-York Daily Tribune (October 13, 1892). RUNAWAY FIRE HORSES CHARGE ON THE CROWD AT UNION SQUARE. --------------------------- Heroic Act of a Policeman--One Panic Averted by Coolness and Strength--Another Break Quickly Quieted. Three fire engine horses, while drawing engine No. 9 during the parade yesterday afternoon, suddenly became excited and ran away with the engine as fast as they could go. They were headed straight for the immense throng at Seventeenth- st. and Broadway, and it was only by the splendid nerve and pluck of the police there that a terrible accident was averted. As it was, a panic began and spread in the senseless way of all panics. Luckily that also was checked before it became uncontrollable. But a number of people were hurt, some of them seriously, before it was over. The conditions under which the runaway occurred made it a most thrilling and terrible spectacle. The parade of fire engines had barely begun to pass the cottage stand on the Seventeenth-st. side of Union Square when it occurred. The streets on both sides were densely packed with spectators, and where the parade crossed Broadway and started up Seventeenth- st. the crowd was so huge that it required the constant efforts of thirty policemen to keep the way open. The fire horses, unused to slow progression, had had [sic] been restive and hard to control from the start. They pranced and worried, and several times different teams would start into a run, requiring a firm and able hand to prevent them from becoming unmanageable. But there was no indication of trouble till the fire engines wheeled into Fourth-ave. Then the crowd there suddenly pushed back, as the three big white horses drawing Engine No. 9 broke out of the line and began to run. The policemen stationed there saw it and wondered. But no one suspected the truth and no sound was uttered by the driver. But he knew that at that moment the three powerful horses had got beyond his control. He braced himself for a mighty effort, and exerted every muscle of his body to guide them into Seventeenth-st. He succeeded in doing this. But then the horses, big magnificent animals, seeing the broad street, put their heads down and went with a wild rush, as fast as if they were going to a fire. What followed lasted only a few seconds, but it seemed a long time to the crowd. The driver was pale, and fully realized the present danger. The engine flew from side to side as the horses dashed along, headed directly for the crowd at Broadway and Seventeenth-st., which was so tightly wedged in that none could move out of the way. The driver wrapped the reins around his arms and lay back on the seat, but nothing could stop the three grand animals. In the middle of the block the engine nearly struck a ladder truck ahead of it. The driver managed to steer his horses clear of it, but that was all. They rushed on madly. Suddenly a big policeman made a flying leap at the head of one of the horses. It was a desparate thing to do, and the man seemed to be courting death. For an instant there was a mixed-up jumble of man and horses and fire engine. But the man won, and a dozen other policemen were at the horses' heads before the frightened spectators got their breaths back. The brave policeman, who did what was really a most heroic and a grand and noble thing to see, was Edward E. Griflenragen, of the Twenty-ninth precinct. When he and his courageous companions finally stopped the wild horses the heavy pole of the engine was only a few feet away from the helplessly jammed in crowd. The people there crowded and pushed frantically to get out of the way, and most of them were overcome by fear. During the crush a doctor had the ligaments of his ankle torn, and many women fainted while several got hysterical. Luckily the crowd there was reassured and held in check by the police. But at Fourth-ave. and Seventeenth-st. there occurred the most dreadful thing that can happen in a crowd. A panic began. Cool headed men in the cottage stand opposite trembled when they saw it develop as, for a few moments, the great crowd in the street reeled and swayed, first backward, then forward, then backward again with increasing impetus. For a moment the solid blue line of police wavered. It was but for a moment. But it was enough to allow a multitude to break through the lines. With a mad rush, like a great body of water bursting its bonds, the crowd swept into the middle of the street, under the hoofs and wheels of horses and engines which came up the street two abreast. While that rush lasted things looked bad. A number of women and children were carried clear across the street to the grand stand, where a number of men hurriedly lifted them in, expecting that the panic would become worse. Again the police did well. They formed in solid line at once and in a few minutes all was calm again. But the ambulance was kept busy. One woman was found with her knee cap dislocated, three or four women had been knocked down and were insensible, and a number suffered from violent hysteria. The panic spread to crowds a block away, who were altogether out of sight and hearing of the runaway. While the disorder was at its height, the horses of fire engine No. 3 started to run, but they were checked in time. It was said by the police that the panic was begun by a foolish old woman who shrieked that the runaway was coming back toward the crowd where she was. The names of some of those treated by the physicians as they were reported to the police last night were: Dr. Dahl, No. 36 West One-hundred-and-thirty-third-st., ankle dislocated and ligaments torn. Annie Bolz, No. 180 Avenue-B, hysteria. Annie Benning, No. 415 East Sixteenth-st., hysteria. |