MOTOR FATALITY

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3193, 18 September 1917, Page 9

MOTOR FATALITY

THE INQUEST

ACCIDENT IN MOLESWORTH

STKBET

'An inquest was iield yesterday afternoon by Mr. S. E. il'Carthy, S.iM., inlo tho circumstances siltcndiiif; tho death oi a child aged fiJ, .named (jordoa Challis, ■who was knocked down Fiy a aiotor-car drivoß. by Percv AVitlmrk. Tho accident occurred in Mofeswortli Street oil Iriday afternoon, and tho child iliod iu the Hospital eaify on tho following moininij. .Mr. H. 1 , . O'Lcary watched tho proceedings on behalf of th>) pa routs, Mr. A. Gray, K.C, appeared for Percy Withers, and Mr. G. G. G. Wafson appeared lor the owner of the car, Mr. Walter ,lolinDr. llayal, of Urn Wellington Kosi)i(nl, acting-house surgeon, stated that he saw the child about an liour after his admission to tho Hospital; that would bo about B p.m. .Dr. Parker had eeea ihe child previous to that. Th« child -was suffering from shock and iwliaved in a peculiar manner, ■ some chest injury. The chest was i>xamiueJ, and it gave tho appoarance of. being crutliwi. Tbu heart was displaced tciwarde the ri"ht eide, and ihe child could scarcely breathe. Tho boy was kept qniet and was re-examined at about S p.m. He then gave eigne of Buffering fi'oai internal injuries, and was in a. miiiili more unions condition than when • provimioly examined. TUe child was seen . again at II p.m., and be was then in ii state ot collapse. Tho parents wero sinnraonct, end the child expired soon after midnight. Death was duo to shock ana internal hemorrhage. t Percy Withers, chauffeur to Mr. Walter Johnston, Hobsott Street, and J'l'Siding at 115 KaroriEoad, stated that on l'tiday last he was driving his car übout 4 p.m. .through Molosworfh Sh-wt m the direction of Lambton -Quay. In tho car was a Mr. A. Lythor. He was dmiDg at about 18 miles an hour; the road was clear, and on nearing Staples's brewery ho saw a' child on the road. Bo w<, about fifteen to twenty yards fromi the child. When he first saw the cl ild it was running down.and:across.the roau, in the siiaio direction - as the car was poing. Witness sounded his iini'ii »na nut the brakes on; tho child v.as then a lew yards away. The speed of the car was reduced, but tho child si'emed to stop. He relieved-the , , brakes and tried to get past the child on tho proper side of the road. .The lad j then went.ahead again, and witness had not the slightest chance then of getting round lie back of the child. Aβ ho went past t.ie child, a front and back wheel of the car went on .to the- footpath, and the car sti'uck a verandah post. The front of the ear missed the little boy/ and when v/itness saw the verandah post fall he pulled the car round back on to the road. Witness was past the child then, but he could not see the child. Ho .pulled vp dead and looked through the window and eaw the child lying on tho road about three feet away, and near thenghUaok wheel. The child must have been struck by the mud-guard or the right back wheel. Hβ was positive the car did not go over the child. He was unable to say how the child was struck. To Mr. O'Leary: He was in the employ of Mr.. Johnston, and .at tho time of the accident he was on his employer .> business. There was no need for u - gency. Hβ did not know the speed limit ? or motor-cars in the city, but he thought it was about 18 to 20 wiles Going at tho former pace he could pull up h!s car in about 15 to SO yjrde. He Juld have avoided tho accident if the child had kept but he was misled by the pMd.s aution. tinder the circumstances witness thought road at right angles and hen cranged to cross tho road diagonally. W lln . cs s Wew his horn and .put on the brakes simultaneously, and if the child Lad not gone on again after stopping the• e,.«U uave been no accident When the child moved on, witness released the omkes, puT on the accelerator, and er>deavom-ed to pass the child on tho other side. Had tUe child stood he would buy© pissed him or if he had gone across the sheet at right angles the car would have lf.iesed Mm He knew Molesworth Street, well, as™e drove up and down it about.s*toen time aday; and tho pace he was gon» at on the day of the accident was his ;; r mal speed The child 'vasakenm | the car to Mr. Hanlon, chemist, Molesworth Street, who advised witness to feke the child tea doctor. Witness took the Kov to Dr. Herbert, who ordered him 7to the Hospital While the chid was in the motor-car it cried, .-.nd vitucto asked the boy where he lived, and he renlied in Tinakori Boad : and lie also gave hie name, which witness wdoretood wasT "Chandler." Witness stayed, at the H-Spital while the child was being examined, and the doctor assured him tluit hTwould be all right. n He went up to the Hospital'again at 7 o'clock, when they told him the child was m a serious condition. He rung up the Itepital at 9 p.m. to inquire, and at midnight he was told >the child was dying, Witness and Wβ wife went to the Hospital m the car and got to tho ward jast *e the child wasdying. He had i,een dnving for many years, and this was the first accident ho had ever liad. Richard D. Hsnlon, chemist, JUole»worth Street, gave evidence as to the Child being brought.to' his pharmacy. Ihe child was-unconscious. He advised the chauffeur to .take the child to the Bo=pital. He had known Withers for the past six or eoveu years, and regarded him as one of the most careful drivers using the street. • ... . Christopher George Chalbs, a storeman, M'iding at 57 Tinakori Boad, and father of" the deceased, said the child was m the street bocauee it had 'leen sent an errand to the butcher's. . At this stage the proceedings were adjourned to 11 a.m. Wednesday.