Shocking Accident, 1870

The following is the transcription of an article published in The Daily Oregon Statesman January 11, 1870.

Shocking Accident. — A little boy, five years old, a son of Mr. S. P. Farrens1, of Howell Prairie, was frightfully injured by a kick from a horse, on Sunday last.  We are informed that the little fellow was playing in a lot where the animal was feeding, and struck it with a switch.  The horse kicked, and the blow taking effect on the boy’s head, crushed the skull so badly that the brain extended from the wounds.  Dr.s Carpenter & Jessup were called and found the patient in a very dangerour [sic] condition, owing to the loss of a portion of the brain, as well as the pressure of the pieces of broken bone.  Several pieces of skull were extracted, as much as two inches square being taken away; the brain then returned to its proper position, and the symptoms yesterday were favorable for the child’s recovery.