MediumSilver Gelatin Print; Mounted
Dimensions20 × 24 in. (50.8 × 61 cm)
Object number2000.100.3602
Institutional Credit LineCourtesy of the New Bedford Whaling Museum
DescriptionFloral arrangement for the funeral of William Sowle, 1893. From the Daily Mercury Monday June 26, 1893: "William P. Sowle, for years the driver of engine No. 2 stationed at the Central House on Purchase street, sprang to his seat Sunday morning as the bells clanges the dreaded alarm. 'Thirty-six,' shouted the engineer, as the first round of the warning ceased to toll, and open wide went the doors. The horses needed no urging, and guided by the hand which is now at rest, the machine went hurriedly on through Purchase street, leaving its trail of smoke and sparks behind.
During the early hours of Saturday mornings the streets in the centre of the city are more or less crowded with vehicles of every description. This Saturday morning in particular the numbers were increased by scores of vehicles from the country, and as the engine turned onto Union street from Purchase, one of those farmer's wagons were directly in the way. The farmer's horse was frightened by the clang of the gong, and had become unmanageable. Mr. Sowle attempted to avoid the runaway and swerved his horses to the side of the street. The pole of the engine struck a telegraph pole and snapped into several pieces. The down grade of the street made the situation a critical one, but the veteran driver did not lose his head and thought of the only thing to do in a instant. The street was lined with teams and at the corner of Acushnet avenue was another farmer directly in the way. With his foot on the brake in an attempt to partially control the big steamer the fated driver turned his horses north into the avenue. It was a fatal movement, for as the wheels of the ponderous machine struck the car tracks and then the curbing, Mr. Soule [sic] was thrown from his seat, and the forward and rear wheels of the nigh side of the engine passed diagonally across his abdomen.
He was picked up, and taken into Bliss & Nye's store on the corner. Drs. Edward Pierce and A. P. Webber here hastily summoned, but before they arrived Mr. Sowle was dead."
On View
Not on view1745-1925
1725-1960
Ted Toy-lers, Inc.
10/15/1910
