snow and sand and never lost control. But while riding his moped down Front Street on Saturday night, he skidded in a pile of horse droppings, suffering a gash to his eye and massive bruising to his body.

"I was not even going fast,'' said Mr. Hogle, whose arm is so badly bruised he can't move it. "As I stopped, the bike just went right out from under me.'' An angry Mr. Hogle told The Royal Gazette yesterday he could not believe the Island does not have so-called "diaper laws'' like New Orleans and New York City where horse and buggy rides are popular.

He said he has been dodging piles of horse faeces all week while going to and from the Princess Hotel where he and his wife Mogi are staying.

Mr. Hogle is not alone in complaining about the horse droppings. According to restaurateur Mr. Emilio Barbieri, he and other Hamilton business owners have had to deal with the stench of sunbaked horse droppings for years.

And Mr. Hogle claimed a Police officer who attended the accident, at about 9.30 p.m., suggested he write to the newspaper because Police are "fed up'' with dealing with accidents and complaints related to horse droppings.

But this was denied by Police spokesman Sgt. John Dale yesterday: "The Police are not being unduly bothered (by people having accidents as a result of horse droppings in the middle of the road).

And Corporation of Hamilton's Roads Committee chairman Mr. William Boyle said it was the first time he had heard of someone skidding in horse droppings.

"The complaints are usually smell-related and we've only had a few,'' he said.

Mr. Barbieri said the smell wafting up in the breeze from the street to the balcony of his Harbourfront restaurant was ruining the ambiance of dining alfresco.

But he said he has given up complaining to the Corporation and has literally taken matters into his own hands. "If I see it happen, I send someone down to pick it up or I pick it up myself,'' he said.

Mr. Boyle said the idea of fitting carriages with "diaper bags'' has been discussed many times with carriage owners, but they will have no part of it.

He added: "Government licences them (carriage owners) so we feel it is a Government matter. We suggested the bags years ago but nothing was done.'' But Transport Minister the Hon. Ralph Marshall does not think there is a necessity to fit "diaper bags'' to horse carriages to catch the animals' faeces -- which are dropped haphazardly as they pull carriages of tourists along Front Street and Bermudiana and Par-La-Ville Roads.

"All I can say is we have looked at that regulation over and over and it always comes down to the fact (horses defecating on the roads) has been going on since the old horse and buggy days and hasn't really been a problem,'' Mr.

Marshall said. After hearing about the accident, he said his Ministry would "take another look'' at "diaper bags''.

Mr. Boyle pointed out the Corporation does pay people to sweep the streets -- including scooping up horse droppings. But he said they only sweep about twice a day. He added it would not be easy to find someone to "follow the carriages around all day''.

But carriage owners yesterday said that was what was needed. And they greeted the suggestion of a "diaper bag'' with outrage.

"Horses have been in this world ever since there has been a world and they have been dropping s--t ever since then too!,'' said one carriage driver, who did not want to be named.

He suggested anyone who thinks horses should wear "diaper bags'': "Go to New York City and see what it's like to sit behind a carriage (with a bag) and have the smell and flies all in your face.'' Longtime driver Mr. Howard Charles said a "diaper bag'' would aggravate horses and cause them to "kick-up and bolt''.

He added local horses are a different breed from the ones in New York City and would be more sensitive to something flapping at their backsides. "Why can't the Corporation do their job and clean it up,'' he asked.

Mr. Norman Terceira, who owns several horse and buggies, said he and other owners would be willing to pay a fee to the Corporation to have the droppings scooped up.

And contrary to what other carriage drivers said, he claimed there is "a lot'' that can be done to lessen the amount of horse faeces in the streets.

One thing, he said, is for carriage drivers to train their horses to defecate before they leave for Hamilton in the mornings and evenings.

And he said if carriage drivers fed their horses the proper food, their droppings would not smell as much.

He added some drivers simply let their horses defecate wherever they want.

He said he knows of one driver who lets his horse defecate every night in front of the same house.

Reacting to Mr. Terceira's suggestion of buggy owners paying a fee to the Corporation, Mr. Boyle said they "were not organised enough'' to be taken seriously.

Mr. Hogle, the owner of theatrical supplies company in Santa Fe, New Mexico, said he was putting on his brakes to stop at the traffic lights outside the Bank of Bermuda when he skidded in the horse drop pings.

The driver behind him called an ambulance which took him to the hospital, where he spent the rest of his last Saturday here.

And the whole day on Sunday, his last full day here, he spent in bed he was in so much pain.

"I've been riding bikes all my life and this has never happened to me,'' said Mr. Hogle, the owner of a Triumph.

IN A MESS -- American tourist Mr. Dick Hogle shows the injuries he received after skidding in a pile of horse droppings on Saturday night.