CAR'S FATAL PLUNGE

Gisborne Times, Volume LXIII, Issue 10140, 28 October 1925, Page 7

CAR'S FATAL PLUNGE

WAIKARE GORGE TRADEGY. INQUEST ON THE VICTIMS. , . After two adjournments to allow of the recovorv of one of the principal SL&sc. W. CoslmH, tte o the car concerned, who. 'to" nimscl “r’rc" ,i!b Jackson. »«d 88 years, and his infant son, aged r«*o veal* and five months, who were killed cn the nfidit of Sentember 1 last rs a result of a De Luxe service car, en route from Wairoa to Napier, plungj ™ into the Waikare. Gorge, and on ti e hodv of Mio Doris Jackson, who expired in the Napier Hosp.tal on tho niorniu"- of September 4 as a re.vudof- injuries sustained m, the same £>?- tK Detective-Sergeant Butler conducted the police - ' proceedings, 15 Lmk held a watching toneL for the Do Luxe Service Car Company. Evidence of identification was given , Dt a previous inquest by rranL' Jenbuilder, of Napier. « JLirrv Barnett, of Napier, father of the deceased, Doris Jackson, said that the latter was 25 years of age at the time of her death. He identified a watch aml chain as the, property., of hi* daughter, but said that it was usually worn by lvis late sou-i D-law, Frederick Jackson. IN PERFECT CONDITION. a

[Robert Kerridge, managing direct-, or of the D’e Luxe, Car Company, stated that the car involved was the property of the company. The car left Gisborne at 2 p.m. on the day in,_qiiestion for-TVairoa,hand it was:nof,,intended at first: to sendVitKlu'Qii.gh' to Napier,- unless the -necessity .arose—that was if passengers were found at Wairoa who wight*! to go on to Napier. 'When the car left Gisborne itwas 'exaniilfeti. ns v. as the>usual custom, and was found to he in perfect condition. Witness travelled from Napier to Gisborne that'day and arrived at about 10 p.Tu. He came, down the Waikare Gorge, at about 7.20 p.m., hut did not know that the car -Which was smashed was on .tliN-noad with passengers. It was about 9.30 a.m. on September 2 that he.heard of the a evident and iin mediately dispatched a. car from Napier and/he and bis Napier manager, .31 r Gallagher, loft- for the scene of' the* accident about half-an-hour : later. . THE STEERING GEAR.

On arrival he saw the wrecked car nnd the injured passengers, but did not see anyone test the steering wheel of the car,* nor did he. test it himself. On September 3 witness sent a mechanic, appointed by the police, to inspect the car, and the steering column and box was removed and taken to Napier and inspected by a mechani:appointed hv the police and one of the company’s

WORKING HOURS. Witness supplied the Gisborne-pol-ice with certain/information referring to the hours worked by Coghill-as from August 28. The hours were as follows: Friday. August 28, left Gisborne 8 u.ra., an-ived Napier 5.30 p.m. Saturday, August 29, day off in Napier. On August 31,‘off duty, until 6 p.m., and then left for Wairoa, arriving about 10.30 p.m.. stopped at Wairoa that night. On September 1. he left Wairoa at 7.30 a.m., and arrived at Gisborne at 11 a.m. Then off until 1.45 p.m. the same day. Left‘Gisborne 2 p.m. for Wairoa, arrived at 5,30 p.m., departed 7.10 p.m. for Napier. The usual service running from Wairoa to the scene of the accident would be, day travelling, about 1 hour and 55 minutes. The approximate weight of the car, unladen, was from two ton 5 c-wt, to two ton _ 7 cwt. For the month of August, wit-re-s produced a summary of the hours worked by Coghill, which averaged, five hours 26 minutes a day. WAress a dmitted that on August 14, Coghill worked 12 hours. ABSOLUTELY SOBER.

Mr Lusk: How long had Ooghill been in your employ?—About 3month=, and previous to that was w itli the Gisborne Motor Service for about two years. ' . „ What about his driving capabili-th-s? He was considered one or the most capable, drivers in the company’s cnvnlov. „ , . , Was l e sober? To my knowledge, absolutely. ■ , What sort of a- night, when» von came through to Napier? By the time we ariyoi at W aikare it was raining heavily.

When you came through the gorge, was it clear —No. There was. a moon but rain was also falling and a mist was in evidence. There is a high bank cti one side of the gorge road ?—Yes. y,-.l ■ There has at some time been a slip;! on the other side of the road, hut": since filled in?—Yes,’ - . A DANGEROUS ROAD. What have you to say about the road ?—lt is absolutely dangerous. What gear do j’ou-come.down on?— Second gear about half-way down. Would' even a careful ([.river be liable td- make a mistake while driving J down that road'at night?— : Quite pcs-i siblc. Z" . ’ - | Would you term' a 13 feet-iuideiinefc "j al road dangerous?—lt certainly is j narrow. j The oar concerned was a left-hand drive?—Yes. ' 'y.yM'EDIOAiy'EVIDENCE.' :'I)V. Fitzgerald deposed. tet going out to the scene of the accident with"*De-tective-Sergeaut Butler, and seeing the injured people, and the dead body of the child, the latter being taken to the Napier morgue, and the former to the Napier Hospital. Witness stated that he performed a post-mort-em examination on the ’ child and found that- the spine had been' Completely fractured, and death had been caused by a broken neck.: .Witness also performed a post-mortem examination of the body of Frederick Jackson, whoso.death,'witness stated, was due to drowning, y?Abrasions were "found on the skgtf of the deceased, hut none had caused fracture or injured the Ip-oinY but would have been sufficient to bring about a short period of unconsciousness. . 'Dr. Gumming, house surgeon at the Napiewylfospita 1, said that on September 2, William Coghili and the lake Airs I)oils Jackson were admitted , to.- the Napier Hospital. Mrs 'Jackssoii' was unconscious and cou Id not he aroused. She had a. flushed face and was restless. The right forearm was broken and. a small wound had been made on the forehead., No. irn- . provement was shown and the coma , gradually deepened -until September j 4, when she died. A post-mortem ex- J aminat-ion revealed ..multiple sm.a-]l..f; hemorrhages on the front of tiny bra in I The cause of death was coma and , shock, following on contusion of the j brain. , [

NAPIER NOT ADVISED

Henry Grout, sfcationer, of Wairoa, and Wairoa agent for the De Luxe Company, stated..that about 7.15 p m, on September 1, the car was dispatched to Napier with Coghill and the three deceased. The latter hooked just before-or after five the. same evening. Sometimes Napier . was .communicated with when passengers were being sent through, hut not always. No cimmunication with Napier took place-on the night in question. Evervthing -was in order when the car .left.://, /' . *' . . .

- Herbert Aitley Craig, motor driver , a iid mecharde, la tely employed, as a driver for the Hawke's Bay Motor Co.. Ltd., said he drove the night ‘Service car between Wairoa and Napier on September 1. leaving the latter place at about 7 o’clock and arriving in Napier about midnight. Nothing untoward happened on the journey. Coming clown the Waikare Gorge it was none too light, but no rain Was falling. It was not a good night for travelling, and extra precautions needed,to be taken. He experienced no difficulty in coming down the gorge, but had to keep bis wits about him. all the time. Witness saw nothing of the De- Luxe car. _ The usual running time between Wairoa . and Waikare was 24 hours on a b:\s night.

-John Christopher Callagher. Napier -- a n:\gor for the Be Luxe Co, said that no enquiries v.-orc made as to the non-airival of the car until the next morning. Witness left tlie office shortly after 10 o’clock that night, leaving the night watchman in charge. Constable Bacon testified as to t-ak-ing photographs of the road through the gorge. STRAIGHT AHEAD.

Frederick Norman Thomson. _ district engineer for the Public WorksDepartment, stated that he had had a plan prepared of the road running through the gorge, showing the spot where the car left the road. The'road grade was between one in--14 and one in 15. Witness travelled down the gorge on the evening of September. 2 and saw marks of where a car had left the road where a slight curve . occured. The marks went straight ahead, leaving the beaten track to the left. The width of the road was .about 14 feet and the.sur-

face was in very fair order. Constable Coddington, stationed at Wairoa, stated that he came through -the gorge on the night of Septem her 1, and n/3 far as he could see there [was no indication ol' log or rain. The ! car -he was travelling :in had side cui- •; tains up. . . . ' ‘ Edward -P.em.Ss- Alcroyd, anoiuer driver of the Ee JLiixe Company s ears, deposed/Ke was taking the outward bound-car from Napier to AVairoiiAon the night in. question. Going throu gs. the gorge the re were a few drops of rain, and a slight haze. The ’ moonlight retftecWd on the wet: sides I of the bank, and Reflecting again _on j- the"windscreen, made cleat I fiOltlt, if' T' The Coroner held that-it ! clear how the deaths occured. The, | three deceased were passengers in a. | car which went over a bark in the Water, re Gorge. He returned a separate verdict in each ease, in accordance with medical evidence, and reI marked: “That is all I am called” j upon to do. I can go no further -at ( this stage.” I ■'