Oliver Wendell Holmes 
One Hoss Shay [PDF ebook] 
With Its Companion Poems How the Old Horse Won the Bet the Broomstick Train

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. There is a practical lesson to be got out of the story. Observation shows us in what point any particular mechanism is most likely to give way.