SERIOUS BUGGY ACCIDENT.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 76, 1 April 1899, Page 5

SERIOUS BUGGY ACCIDENT.

On Thursday afternoon an accident of a very serious nature, and which is feared will result fatally to one of the children concerned, happened near Parawai school. About four o'clock one of Short's drivers, a lad named John Npdder, was driving a buggy into town from Kauaeranga. The vehicle contained, in addition to the driver, three little girls, Maggie, Ethel, and Violet Ryan, and a boy named Alfred Strong. When opposite West's gate the driver saw a cart laden with timber. In trying to pass with the buggy young Nodder had to take the side of the road. The horses swerved as Xodder attempted to guide them past the cart, and one wheel went into\a. water table, with the result that the buggy was nearly overturned, and the driver was pitched out. The horses then took fright, and lore along Ihe footpath. One wheel of the buggy collided against a telegraph pole, the spokes being scattered in all directions, and Ethel Ryan was thrown out on the roadside. Her little sister Violet attempted to jump out of the vehicle, but in doing so she fell between the wheels and was dragged along the road, a distance of fifty yards, beingwhirled round and round with each revolution of the wheels, and sustaining fearful injuries. The buggy was brought to a standstill through colliding With a bridge. Here youngStrong was thrown out, and was considerably bruised. The injured girl Violet was conveyed to the hospital, -where she was examined by Dr. Williams,, who found that one of her thigh bones and her hips were severely squeezed, also that she had sustained internal injuries. Her condition is most critical, and there is very little hope of her recovery. Beyond being frightened by the shock Ethel Ryan was not injured. The lad Xodder did his best to clear the cart. The children had been offered a 'lift' into town by him out of good nature, in order to save them the long walk from the booms, where they had been to procure apples.