TOLL OF THE MOTOR

Greymouth Evening Star, 2 April 1929, Page 5

TOLL OF THE MOTOR

NELSON CREEK TRAGEDY.

. NGAHERE SETTLER KILLED Pinned underneath the car in which he was travelling, when it capsized near Nelson Creek, about 1 p.m. on Sunday, Mr. William ("Kim”) Fletcher,‘a well-known Ngahere settler, received fatal injuries, his neck being broken. The driver, Mr. F. Fletcher (son of deceased), and Messrs. J. Campbell and K. Harper, all of Ngahere, escaped with minor injuries. The party was returning from Nelson Creek to Ngahere, and the smash occurred less than half a mile -on the Greymouth side of Dalziel’s homestead. It is stated that the car, a practically new Chevrolet tourer, struck some loose gravel and skidded. It swerved to the left, then to the right, to the left again, and finally capsized, landing on a fence at the side of the road, smashing the hood, steering wheel, windscreen, and mudguards. Deceased was in the back seat, and the car had to be raised in order to extricate him, which was done with the assistance of Messrs P. C. Heaphy, and F. Costello, who were returning to Greymouth from Kopara. Mr. Heaphy drove to Blackball, a distance of about five miles, and located Dr. F. O. Bennett, who lost no time in reaching the scene of the accident, but he found that Mr. Fletcher was dead.

Deceased was a native of Brunner, 54 years of age, and had during the last few years been dairying at Ngahere, prior to which he followed the occupation of a coal miner in the Brunner district, and a bushman in< the Grey Valley. He is survived by his widow, one son (Mr. F. Fletcher), two daughters (Misses May and Mabel Fletcher), one step-daughter (Miss Myra Campbell, and five stepsons (Messrs William, Robert, John, Henry and Joseph Campbell). He also leaves a brother (Mr. George Fletcher, of Taihape), two half-brothers (Messrs. J. Donaldson, of Ngahere, and R. Ronaldson, of Ross), and two sisters (Mrs Jones, of Auckland, and Mrs. Martin, of Stillwater). The funeral took place at Ngahere cemetery this afternoon. An inquest will be held at Ngahere at 10.30 a.m. on Friday next; CHRISTCHURCH WOMAN KILLED. (Per Press Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, April 1. . Crashing into a telegraph post at the Clock Tower .corner in the early hours of yesterday morning, a motorcar, containing four people, threw out two of its occupants with a result that one, a young woman, was killed and a young man was injured. The others escaped lightly. The occupants of the car were: — Maureen Doris Mitchell, aged 25 years, of 65 Bristol Street, St. Albans, killed. Nora Rich, 407, Papanui Road, shaken and bruised. Cecil Spence Penlington, 24, Weka Street, Fendalton, fractured arm. John Boyd Clark, 10 Innes Road, Papanui, the driver, shaken and bruised. A LUCKY ESCAPE. CHRISTCHURCH, April 1. Meeting two other cars coming towards his own car on the road between Governor’s Bay and Lyttelton yesterday afternoon, a motorist decided that all he could do was to take the outside. But the bank gave way and his car described three somersaults down the hillside before it came to rest, and yet none of the four passengers was hurt. The car contained three brothers, named Harrison, and a friend, all Christchurch residents. In its career , down the hill the car smashed its top gear and all the glass. The seats i were left behind, and the occupants , were flung out one by one, landing on grass and tussock A remarkable feature of the accident was that after the tyres had been renewed the car was able to return to the city under its own power. ' ASHBURTON COLLISION. j ASHBURTQN, April 1. j A collision between a five-seater Ford car driven by Robert McKay, , farmer, of Longbeach, and a gig driv- j en by a middle-aged man named ( Francis Goodwin, who resides at 182 Alford Forest road, occurred at the , intersection of Tancred and East ( Streets, about 9 a.m. yesterday. The force of the impact shot Goodwin about half a chain away on to the j road and turned the gig over on its side. The unfortunate man was un- ■ conscious when picked up and was conveyed to the County Hospital suffering from a severe fracture of the skull. Late last night his condition was very low. SERIOUS HEAD INJURIES. HAMILTON, March 3L ' Serious head injuries were received by George Foster, married, with two children, in a collision with a car driven by H. Cave, in School Gully, Hamilton East, last evening. < Foster was unconscious when admitted to the hospital. He is in a critical condition. DRUNKEN JOY-RIDER. | TE AWAMUTU, March 30. The Magistrate to-day fined Russell V. Clarke £lO for being intoxicated while in charge of a car, and cancelled his driver’s license for two years. Accused was a taxi-driver, resident in Kihlhihi. With a companion, he had taken'-two girls joy-riding. The evidence showed that all. had partaken of liquor; The Bench described accused . as- a menace /on the roads and refused to let him have a license to drive any vehicle in spite of the fact that he was no longer taxidriving, and had work on a lorry. HOMELAND HOLIDAY VICTIMS. (Australian Press Association.) (Received April.2, 9 a.m.) . LONDON, April 1. There was brilliant Eastertide sunshine, eleven hours, on Sunday,, over a wide area, including London. The temperature was 1 seventy in the shade. . ' ■ ...

A heavy crop of road accidents arose from the immense motor car and motor cycle traffic. Twelve persons were killed.

ANOTHER KILLED. HASTINGS, April 2. * James Currie, who was,- knocked down by. a motor car last evening, died in the hospital this morning. FATAL FALL FROM CAR. BLENHEIM, April 2. Charles Martin, 60, of Sutherland! Road, Wellington, a member of thej Newton bowling rink, visiting Blenheim for the Easter bowling tournament; fell off a motor car when returning from the Blenheim green to his hotel for luncheon yesterday, and sustained head injuries which resulted in his death at Wairau Hospital last night. Deceased was well known in Bien- : heim, as a frequent visitor. He leaves . a widow and four grown-up children. No inquest is necessary, the facts being plain. The accident was observed by a number of people. The body will be shipped to Wellington. SERVICE CAR CAPSIZED. ® . < NELSON, April 2. While on the journey from Motueka to Nelson, late yesterday afternoon, a service car, containing sixteen passengers. capsized over a twenty-foot bank on the Moutere Hills, while passing an approaching car. Misses Gow and Helmsley were taken to the hospital. Their injuries are not believed to be serious. Two other passengers sustained minor injuries.