Accidents Galore

This story was carried by The Ypsilantian on October 3, 1907.

Last week was prolific of accidents, but not serious results. Thursday afternoon while Mr. M. O. Straight of Detroit was giving several of his friends an automobile ride, they took the steep Tuttle hills. They went down the north hill safely but when nearly at the top of the south hill the machinery went wrong and the chauffeur was unable to stop it. The auto backed down the hill and was making for the bridge, where it would have gone off and dropped some distance into the river. As the ladies in the tonneau were closed in by the curtains, which were down, the gentleman realized the danger and pulled the car off the road by a great effort, landing it against the fence with such force as to break the back of the car badly, but without harming the occupants. A traction engine that came along just then towed the car out of its bad plight. (The sight of this accident is now under Ford Lake, as Tuttle Hill road once ran through there before the damming of the river. The bridge in the story is still there under the lake.)

Friday afternoon the brewery team ran away down River street, being frightened by the cars at the depot, and on turning into Congress street (now Michigan Ave.) caught the hind wheels into the buggy wheel of the rig in which Street Commissioner Lewis was sitting and whirled the horse and buggy completely around. The buggy wheel was smashed and Mr. Lewis wrenched his ankle in springing out, but none of the horses were hurt.

Saturday night the arc light wire in front of Davis & Co.’s store at the depot burned off and dropped to the pavement while the street was filled with people, making a fine display of fireworks and scaring everybody around. A telephone to the waterworks led to the turning off the current and the break was soon repaired. The same evening a tree limb fell across the Washtenaw electric Co.’s wires near Geddes and for two hours during the busy shopping hours, the stores had to resort to gas lamps and candles.