CARTER DROWNED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23599, 8 September 1938, Page 2

CARTER DROWNED

DRAY OVERTURNED BY WAVE PASSAGE AROUND CLIFF (Per United Press Association) WELLINGTON, Sept. 7. An inquest was held to-day in regard to the death of Harry Perrett. aged 68, of Island Bay, who was drowned when a dray was turned over by the surf near Ohiro Bay on August 26. Lionel Kitchener James, a labourer, explained that to get to the place where they were loading gravel it was necessary to pass under a Bluff for 150 yards with the teams travelling most of the time in the surf. He had just helped the deceased to load the dray, which the deceased was making the last as the tide was rising and the sea coming up fairly rough. They had gone only about 50 yards when he heard the deceased say, “ look out for this one.” meaning a high wave. The next moment, witness said, the wave broke on the dray and rebounding from the cliff, turned it over, throwing the deceased and witness into the water. Witness was taken out into the breakers and did not see the deceased after that. The next thing he remembered was that he was up on the beach and the sea was dragging him back. He dug his hands and knees into the sand and managed to get out of the water half dazed. It was then that he thought of the deceased and struggled back under the cliff to see if he could find him. but could not see him anywhere. The horses were still attached to the dray and struggling to get free. They struggled for about 20 minutes before they were drowned. Witness saw he could do nothing and being wet through he commenced to climb the cliff. He got stuck about 50 yards up and two men later came to his assistance. They would have got round the cliff had not this unusually heavy wave caught them. Such waves, under the conditions prevailing that afternoon, were very infrequent. After other evidence had been heard a verdict was returned that the deceased was accidentally drowned when driving a team of horses past the runaround near Ohiro Bay. “When conditions are like that r think pedestrians who endeavour to cross there take their lives in their hands,” the coroner observed. It had been stated by a witness that he had seen pedestrians in difficulties there but never before a team of horses.