THE AWAMOKO FATALITY.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XLII, Issue 12822, 14 April 1916, Page 2

THE AWAMOKO FATALITY.

The adjourn. <1 UKjiii.-.-'. Mpoii tie- '"■'!> of George A. (Jardin.-r ■•*.>- vesterday morning before Mr W . (••"•- diner, jiin.. a- actm:: Coi omit. and U:>same jury a> on previous occasion-. Sergeant Staupoole represented the police; Mr K. I'. Lee appeared lor Messrs Wright. Stephenson, and Co.. Ltd.: Mr P. C. Hjorring appeared tor the relatives of the deceased, and Mr r W. Ongley watched the case on behalf of Mr \V. 31-Phec, the driver of the dray. Walter John Y'ardley, blacksmith, 01 Duntroon,- who knew Gardiner, stated that he saw him in. Duntroon at 6 p.m. . on 6th inst., sitting in his car outside (Jit's Hotel. Gardiner appeared to be doing something to his car. They exchanged "Good-nights," and witness passed on. He lat«r saw him pull up iroin the road on to the footpath near Hoy's Hotel, close to a paling fence, going towards Oaraaru. Gardiner got out on the left-hand side, and walked round to the right-hand side to eee lidw close the car, was to the fence. He could see him plainly from the rail••way station until the train, came in. Gardiner recognised witness directly, walked straight, and none of his actions were those of a man under the influence of liquor. Witness did not think that Gardiner had time, m the interval between his seeing him at Orr's Hotel and Hoy's Hotel, to liavc entwed the former. To Mr Ongley: His manner was that of a sober man." Witness did not think he was drunk, but would not swear either way. His car appeared to be clear of " the ' fence at Hoy's Hotel. There was from a chain and a-half to two chains between the hotel and the railway line. Between the road and the footpatli at Hoy's there was a water table. The footpath was of asphalt. The water table was worn away opposite the hotel. He did not sec "Gardiner take the turn in. He could not tell from where he was if the car touched the fence or not, but it was on the footpath. To Mr Lee: He had often seen other cars pulled up on the spot where Gardiner was at the Duntroon Hotel. He would not say that he—had run oif the ordinary track for cars pulling up. Arthur Al'Laren Henderson, stock agent, employed by Messrs Wright, Stephenson, and Co., stated that he knew the deceased, who was also employed by the firm. He knew the car that deceased drove; and had driven it at odd times: it was the property of the company. He had driven it Irom Dewar's Garage to the sale-yards on the Tuesday previous tojthe accident, and about the town during that day. it was then in perfect order. He saw the deceased in Dewar's Garage on the morning of the accident, also at Borton's in the morning at about 11 o'clock, and again at Duntroon, where they parted, at about 11.30 in the morning. Gardiner made no mention of anything being wrong with the car. To*Mr Ongley: He had a drink with deceased at Duntroon in the morning. Had seen the car since the accident, and the steering was quite good. He first saw the car about 12.30 on the night of the accident. Donald M'Leod was with witness (they were in

M'Leod's car). Mr William Gardiner, also Mr Brewster, and others were present. He had a look over the car to see what state it was in. He went there to see what state the car was in.

Witness considered it was his duty, as an employee of the firm, to visit the scene of the accident, though not part of Lis> duty as a stock agent. He removed a parcel from the car; that was no part of his duty. He put it in Mr Smith's car, having got it out of Gar. diner's car. He did not care what became of it after he got it out of the car. It was a sugar-bag containing bottles, and he removed it to spare the feelings of deceased's relations. He did not think he was doing anything wrong. He did not think it had any. thing to do with the accident. To Sergeant Stagpoole: Tho parcel was quite intact, and apparently had not been opened. To Mr Pryor: He did not remember having been in the car at night time. He had seen the lights, which were quite as good as die average on tliose cars. He would think that with those lights ho would see an object twentyfive yards away.

Robert Smitii, motor driver, of Oamaru, said that on the morning of tho 7th he was willed upon to drive Constable Bisset to the scene of the accident. He arrived at about 6.30 in tho morning. He examined the cur, and the steering gear was all right. The engines were in good order. There was nothing wrong, except the bodywork. He was sent for to come out on the night of the accident. He dici not know until he got into Oamaru that a parcel had been put in his car. The parcel was there now. The par. eel contained two bottles of whisky and four bottles of ale. He was not asked about this by the police, and did not volunteer the information. He knew the liquor came out of deceased's car when he got to Oamaru. To Mr Lee: The car was a Renault, one of the best cars. To Mr Pryor: Cogs were broken in the differential mechanism. To Sergeant Stagpoole: The broken <;og would not interfere witli the steering of the car. The car was in gear and the petrol was still on. The brakes were not on. To Mr Lee: The deceased might have endeavored to stop the car by putting out the clutch, and using the footbreak. After the accident nothing ou the car would show this.

To Mr Ongley: A* far as he could see, there were no marks of skidding, as if the brakes had been applied hard, but the last two yards of tracks were obliterated. • To Mr Lee: The ground was loose, and skidding might have taken place and not show on the road. John Fraser, manager for Messrs Wright, Stephenson*, and Co., Ltd., of Oamaru, said he had driven the firm's car used by deceased, a very good one; in fact, their best car. There was an arrangement whereby Dewar's Garage kept the iirm's cars in order, and employees were instructed to keep them in good order. To Mr Ongley: The car was fit to drive at night. The lights were sufficient. _IT lights showed 25 yards ahead it was sufficient to enable a driver to pull up. The lights snould have shown a dray at that distance, in which it was easy to pull up one of those cars. Ttf Mr Pryor: He thought that lie could have avoided this accident from what he had learned about it. The jury's verdict - was:—"That the deceased, George Andrew Gardiner, met liis death while driving a motor, car, bv colliding with a dray driven by William M'Phee on the night of the 6th inst., and received such injuries that caused almost instantaneous death. The jury was of the opinion that William M'Phee was on liis right side of the road and did everything' in his power to avoid the accident, and that the deceased was seized with some sickness that caused him to lose control of his car, which was the cause of the accident."