THE DREADED GROSSING.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13287, 19 June 1936, Page 5

THE DREADED GROSSING.

CAR HIT BY TRAIN. MARRIED WOMAN KILLED. Electric Telegraph—Press Association GORE June 18. A railway crossing accident resulted in the death of a married woman, Mrs Jessie. Shaw of Balfour, .and injuries to two women and twomen passengers from Balfour occurred shortly after noon, when, a goods train on the Tapanui branch line struck a five-seater sedan motor-car on the Waipahi crossing, 16 miles north of Gore.

Mrs Shaw was driving the car ; the other occupants were John Shaw, farmer, Balfour, husband of deceased ; lan Claude Butler, farm hand, of Ardlussa; his mother, Mrs Rose Butler, and his sister, Miss Hilda, Mary Christine Butler, both of Balfour. The car was proceeding to Dunedin.

It is believed Mrs Shaw heard the train whistle but did not know from what direction it was coming. Visibility was bad, due to trees and heavy flakes of snow. The driver applied the brakes and the car stopped on the rails and was hit in the centre. The force of the impact caused the door on the driver’s side to fly open and Mrs Shaw was flung out, landing on her head on a cattle-stop. Death was instantaneous.

The other occupants had miraculous escapes, as, they were imprisoned in the car, wffiich was carried a considerable distance and then thrown clear, landing on its side. The injuries to the other occupants were merely bruises and shock. The deceased woman was 45 years of age and was born at Oamaru. She was married some 12 months ago.

FATAL CAR SMASH. ASHBURTON, June 18. A woman was killed and another seriously injured in u collision tin the Main South Road near Winslow last evening. The victim, was Mary Emily Lowe, single, aged 27. daughter of Mr and Mrs W. T. Lowe, of Hinds, and the injured woman was Mrs G. H. Farrell, of Hinds, a sister of Miss Lowe, who received a fractured skull and was taken to- hospital in a serious condition. The car, which was driven by a brother of deceased. Thomas Peter Lowe, and contained also- her father and mother, and a Miss Watson, of Hinds, collided with another car driven by Delacy Cameron, a commercial traveller. Cameron’s car was first deflected from its course by a slight collision with a third car driven bv William H. Simmons, of Lowcliff o, behind whom Lowe was travelling. The whole of the side of Lowe’s car was stiipped off. It is thought that Miss Lowe was killed instantly.