CHILD’S DEATH.

Hawera Star, Volume XLIX, 13 August 1929, Page 6

CHILD’S DEATH.

. 1 HUNS INTO LOBBY. NO BLAME ATTACHABLE TO DPI VEIL An inquiry into the circumstances ol the death of Madeline Mack, the sin year-okl daughter of Mr ami Mrs. A. •- .1. Mack, ol Okaiawa, was omul uotee ;’ at the Hawera courtliou.se vostordav v afternoon, before Air. B. S. Sage, aote ing-coroner, and a jury of four—Ale;:ssi> C’ G. A. Burgess (foreman), L. .1. Bull, v H. Brown, and E. Fodeii. e Segeant Henry conducted proceeil- . ings on bell all ol the police, while 1 Air. B. Malone appeared lor the driven t of the motor-lorry the path of which - deceased ran into. s Dr. J. Cairney, medical superintendCj out at the Hawera Hospital, deposed r that deceased ha<l been admitted to f the institution at A. 10 p.m. on .July 31 suffering from injuries that were s consistent with her having been f knocked tlown by a motor vehicle. Her I uoumls had been dressed mid t.reafc- . meut for shock instituted. A close . uateh had been kept on her, and at , about midnight witness and Dr. Sinri flair formed the opinion that liaemor- . j riiago had taken place into the abr dominul cavity, and that an immediate ■'operation was necessary if the child’s ‘ file were to he saved." Although her 5 condition had been very low, the operation had been successfully carried through. She lived through the two isiicll ceding days in much the same condition, dying at 1.1. T a. in. oil ' August 3. JDeu.l li had been due to f shock caused by contusion of the abIdominal organs and aggravated bv ini ternal haemorrhage. Harry Christiansen, a 14-year-old

boy residing with his parents at Okinawa, said that ho bad seen some children playing on the roadway tit about !4: o’clock on July 31. As a lorry ■ coming slowly from the direction of Alanaia approached, deceased ran out into its path and was knocked down. The lorry stopped promptly, and witness then saw deceased in front of the back wheel. He did not think that this wheel had touched her. The driver immediately got out and carried deceased into a store. lie did not think that the driver could have pulled up quicker. Deceased had run into the lorry—not walked Mrs. At. E. V. Good, of Okaiawa. another witness of the accident, said that the lorry had been travelling on its correct side and at a slow rate of speed. The child had run into the vehicle, and it had pulled up “dead” on striking her. She did not think that any blame was attachable to the driver of the lorry. Joseph Hartley, the driver of the lorry, said that lie was an employee of the Joll Co-operative Dairy Company, and was at the time of the accident returning the vehicle to its garage. He had been going at about ten miles' an hour and was on his correct side of the road. Deceased had run into his path without warning, and he had immediately applied both brakes, the lorry pulling up in 13 feet. It had not been possible to swerve or pul! up in time. Chanel Joseph Cullinan, an employee of deceased’s parents, gave evidence of identification. Constable Pidgeon said that lie had found skidmarks indicating that the lorry had pulled up in 13 feet. Witness knew Hartley for a careful driver. The jury returned a verdict that deceased had met her death through running into the front wheel of the lorry, the affair being accidental and no blame being attachable to the driver. Sympathy with the parents was expressed by the jury and Air. Abilene on behalf of the Joll Company and the driver