RUNAWAY ROLLER

Northern Advocate, 15 August 1935, Page 6

RUNAWAY ROLLER

SMASHED THROUGH BUILl)ING. ' i CAREER DOWN HILL. j NARROW ESCAPE. [Special to “Northern Advocate."} AUCKLAND, This Day. In Onehunga yesterday afternoon a 12 ton road roller got out of control, ran downhill backwards, and, after crashing through the bath building on the beach, came to rest with its rear rollers on the beach six feet below the level of the footpath. The driver, Mr L. Pike, and his j assistant, Mr A. E. Insley, had a ! miraculous escape. The roller, which is the property of the Onehunga Borough Council, was undergoing an uphill trial on Norman’s Road, after being recently overhauled. When about 25 yards up the hill on a gradient of 1 in 20. the heavy machine stopped and then commenced to roll backwards the brakes failing to slop it. With increasing pace it crossed the ! footpath on Esplanade Road, ground ' the kerbstones to powder and crashed I violently into the galvanised bath j shed. It came to rest at an angle of j 45 degrees, the back roller sinking | several feet below the level of the j roadway. The timbers and flooring ! of the shed were smashed to match- j wood. , Repairs to the bath building are 1 estimated to cost £25. i