Gold Hill Daily News

The Carson Appeal gives the following particulars of the late accident to the stage between Carson and Aurora:

From Dr. Luce, of Genoa, who came to Carson yesterday, and who was called to attend the wounded, we have the following particulars: There were four passengers in the stage—Bob Graves and Cole (the druggist) of Virginia City, and two men from Fort Independence. The horses used on that section of road where the accident occurred are wildish mustangs, and require an experienced driver to handle them. Jim Thompson had charge of the stage and is a good driver, but was silly enough to yield to Bob Graves' still more silly solicitations to let him drive. Bob took the lines, with Cole sitting by him on the outside, and played stage driver while Thompson, for a lark, got inside and played passenger. They both should have known much better, for even with the gentlest horses it requires no little skill and experience to drive over the narrow winding road where this change of place was made between passenger and driver. The result of the freak was that Jehu had not sported the ribbons long before he went to grief and involved the whole party in the catastrophe with himself. Reaching a point beyond Sweetwater, about fifteen miles this side of Aurora, they were on a steep grade a mile in length, which affords room for one vehicle only over nearly its entire length, and is made into abrupt turns to relieve what would otherwise be a headlong descent.

The mustangs, probably having been fretted by the lash before they reached this grade, now put up their tails and went down the hill like rockets. The stage was overturned with a crash, utterly shattered, and crushed to pieces; one of the fore wheels which had sustained the greatest weight of pressure and had acquired a fearful velocity in making the turn, flew off (they say) almost a furlong, and came to a rest nothing more than a mere ring with hub and spokes all gone. The sudden stoppage and shock of the overturned stage had snapped the harness by which the mustangs were held and the four ran away, one of which was not found till two days after the accident.

The extempore driver, Graves, escaped the catastrophe with only a temporary concussion of the brain from which he has since recovered. The two Independence men and Mr. Thompson who were inside were pretty roughly bruised, but sustained no serious hurt. Cole got off with one leg broken a few inches above the ankle. He has suffered very acutely from the fracture; and is on his way back on a litter in a spring wagon. He is making the homeward trip by relays of four or five miles at a time, according to his strength, and will reach Carson, probably, to-morrow.