Narrative Text

Narrative Text
Long ago, before automobiles had been invented people came to town to shop or go to the bank or post office in buggies or wagons drawn by horses. The horses had to be tied to a hitching post so that they didn't wander around while their owner shopped. A long hitching post and rail was built along side the street next to the long side of the store building. The buggies and horses were safer there than if they were tied out in front on the main street which was then U. S. 50.


One winter there came a deep snow, maybe as much as 8 or 9 inches. The snow piled up high on the steep roof of all the buildings in town, including the tall store. People needed to shop or go to the bank but horses could come through snow even that deep. Several wagons parked alongside the hitching post and the horses were tied to the rail waiting there for their owners to return. It had turned quite warm, the sun had come out. Heat from inside the store and the sun on the outside heated up the slates on the roof and melted the underside of the snow. Then, all of a sudden, all the roof snow slid off the slates, just like an avalanche, and dropped down right on top of the horses tied to the hitching rail. Snow can be very heavy and there was lots of snow on that roof. It was a terrible accident. All of the horses were frightened. They tried to break free. Two of the horses were killed, several of them were knocked down and some had legs broken. The buggies were badly crushed. People came running to help free the horses and treat them if they could. The accident story was soon in the newspaper. People quickly learned not to ever tie their horses to the hitching rail next to the tall building if it had snowed and it was still on the store roof.


Dahulu kala, sebelum mobil itu telah ditemukan, orang datang ke kota untuk berbelanja atau pergi ke bank atau kantor pos di kereta atau kereta yang ditarik oleh kuda. Kuda-kuda itu harus diikat ke posting hitching sehingga mereka tidak berkeliaran di saat pemiliknya berbelanja. Hitching panjang pos dan kereta api ini dibangun di sepanjang sisi jalan sebelah sisi panjang bangunan toko. Kereta dan kuda-kuda yang lebih aman di sana daripada jika mereka diikat di depan di jalan utama yang kemudian US 50.


Satu musim dingin datang salju yang mendalam, mungkin sebanyak 8 atau 9 inci. Salju menumpuk tinggi di atap curam semua bangunan di kota, termasuk toko yang tinggi. Orang-orang yang diperlukan untuk berbelanja atau pergi ke bank tetapi kuda bisa datang melalui bahkan salju yang dalam. Beberapa gerobak yang diparkir di samping pos dan hitching kuda-kuda itu diikat ke pagar menunggu di sana untuk pemilik mereka kembali. Itu telah berubah cukup hangat, matahari telah keluar. Panas dari dalam toko dan matahari di luar memanaskan papan tulis di atap dan melelehkan bawah salju. Kemudian, tiba-tiba, semua atap salju turun dari papan tulis, seperti tanah longsor, dan jatuh tepat di atas kuda-kuda itu diikat ke hitching rel. Salju dapat menjadi sangat berat dan ada banyak salju di atap itu. Itu adalah kecelakaan yang mengerikan. Semua kuda-kuda ketakutan. Mereka mencoba membebaskan diri. Dua dari kuda-kuda itu tewas, beberapa dari mereka mengetuk turun dan beberapa punya kaki patah. Parah pada kereta hancur. Orang-orang datang berlari untuk membantu membebaskan kuda dan memperlakukan mereka jika mereka bisa. Cerita kecelakaan segera di surat kabar. Orang dengan cepat belajar untuk tidak pernah mengikat kuda-kuda mereka ke rel hitching di sebelah gedung tinggi jika salju turun dan masih berada di atap toko.