◊ 'St. Mary Street, Cardiff' - Another hand-painted view of the commercial area of Cardiff from the Penarth Dock Collection. [001] [20181027] There are a number of reports of horses pulling wagons out of control as the peaceful scene was dashed in 1907 as this typical press report illustrates :
St. Mary Street Fright - Runaway Horse Scatters People - 'About eleven o'clock this morning a horse attached to a light wagon belonging to the Taff Vale Bottling Company, Cardiff, became restive near the Monument at the bottom of St. Mary-street. The driver, George William Viner, went to its head, but the horse commenced kicking, and breaking away from control dashed up St. Mary-street. Near the Panopticon it got on the pavement and the wagon collided with Bickel's fish shop, knocking over some of the fish. It continued its mad career as far as Wood-street corner, where Inspector Butler, Police-constable Knight, and a civilian, whose name we were unable to obtain, courageously stopped it. The shafts of the wagon were broken, but the horse was unhurt. There was a number of people in the street at the time, and several had narrow escapes from being run over or crushed between the wagon and the shop fronts. Naturally, there was a great deal of commotion, and the wonder is that a great deal more serious damage was not done.' - Evening Express [135] [361] 16th May 1907.
The 'Pantopticon', situated to the left of the postcard image apparently was a forerunner of the cinema. In December 1894 the press reported that a kinetiscope was bing exhibited there being the latest invention of Mr Thomas Edison. Photographs at a rate of 41 frames per second were illuminated by electric light and appeared to move just as they occurred in life!
