ABANDONED CAR

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 55, Issue 167, 29 April 1935, Page 8

ABANDONED CAR

LUGGAGE TAKEN TO POLICE STATION.

SEARCH FQR OCCUPANTS

(Special to the “/Guardian.”) NEW PLYMOUTH, April 24

A blood-stained felt hat, a child’s coat and doll, and several portmanteaux containing a woman’s clothing, suggested some mystery regarding a badly smashed, apparently abandoned motor-car found near Tongaporutu on Sunday evening, states the “Taranaki Daily News.” The wreck was discovered by Mr A. 1). Wylie, whose inquiries at nearby houses failed to explain the circumstances, the result being that he took the luggage on to the New Plymouth police station. There the only articles indicating the approximate address of the unknown motorists were found to be an Inglewood! library book and a handbook of the South Taranaki Automobile Association.

It was on the small Te Kawau bridge, about a mile north of Tongaporutu, that Mr Wylie, motoring from Auckland to Wellington, found a small four-seater ear much the worse for its encounter with a strainer post. Despite the darkness and heavy rain, Mr Wylie formed the conclusion that the damaged car was travelling toward New Plymouth when it met with the mishap, the force of the impact slewing it round to face toward Mokau.

Early investigations failed to disclose the identity of the occupants of the car or their whereabouts, but the police eventually discovered that the driver was Miss Gernhoefer, a school teacher at Inglewood, who was returning from Mahoemii, where she had been staying." Details of the accident were difficult to obtain, but it appears that the car skidded on the wet road and crashed into the strainer. A small girl from Mahoenui, who was a passenger, was cut about the face by broken glass, and also sustained body injuries when the impact threw her forward on to: the brake handle.

Miss Gernhoefer was not hurt, it is understood, and she and the girl were taken back to Mahonui by, a passing motorist. The car was subsequently taken to Awakino for repairs.