AWFUL TRAGEDY

Southland Times, Issue 22008, 6 May 1933, Page 5

AWFUL TRAGEDY

THREE DROWNED WALLACETOWN BRIDGE CAR SMASHES THROUGH TOTALLY SUBMERGED THREE OTHERS ESCAPE An appalling tragedy occurred at 10.30 last evening at the bridge spanning the Makarewa river at Wallacetown, three occupants of a sedan car being drowned and the driver and two other passengers having a miraculous ' escape from a like fate. The victims were:— MRS MILNE, wife of Frank Cameron Milne, manager of the Wrights Bush dairy factory. BELLE MILNE, aged nine, their daughter. > JEAN SOMERVILLE, sister-in-law of Frank Milne and daughter of Hugh Stewart Somerville, of Mabel Bush. Escaped From Car. The three who escaped were:— Frank Cameron Milne, manager of the Wrights Bush dairy factory, who was the driver of the car. Lily Milne, aged 18, his daughter. G. Taylor, second assistant of the Wrights Bush dairy factory, son of Mr Frank Taylor, formerly of Invercargill, who is now in London. Mr Milne with his five passengers was travelling from Invercargill to Wright’s Bush. He has driven across the bridge on hundreds of occasions and knows every inch of the road. He approached the bridge at moderate speed last evening, but failed to get the front wheels of the car cleanly on to the runners on the decking of the bridge. The right front wheel slid oil the edge of the runner and this apparently caused the car to skid to the left. It struck the left side of the bridge, though not severely. The driver tried to straighten up and succeeded in pulling the car over to the right. Woodwork Smashed. By this time the speed of the vehicle was very slow. He was confident that he was going to escape without anything untoward occurring. The car came in contact with the right side of the bridge, but with a force so mild that Mr Milne foresaw no danger. Evidently the woodwork was rotten, for it snapped like matchwood and to the horror of the driver and passengers the car toppled oil the bridge. It struck the grassy surface of the sloping bank, slewed round and slid into the river which was in fairly heavy flood.

By some means three of the occupants managed to get out of the car, rose to the surface of the water and got ashore, though not without serious difficulty. The other three remained imprisoned in the car with the dark water of the river swirling over them as the remorseless current swept seawards. A Rude Awakening. Intending to leave for the Forbury trotting meeting at an early hour in the morning, Mr and Mrs Andrew Baird, proprietors of the Wallacetown Hotel, had retired to bed at 10 p.m. When they first heard a loud knocking on the door they thought is was some person merely seeking admittance. Then they heard shouts and could distinguish the word “Drowned!” Realizing that an accident had occurred they hastened to dress and open the door. There thej' found Mr Milne in distraction and from him they learnt the extent of the tragedy. Mr Baird communicated at once with the Invercargill police. Constable Dunlop, who was in the watch-house, answered the call and telephoned Mr J. N. Armour, of Russell’s garage, the ambulance and Constable Mcßae, of Waikiwi. Mr Armour rushed a service truck to,the bridge, and the ambtilance driver, though only asked to stand by, also hurried out, as did Constable McRae. News of tl\e tragedy was also received at the Times Office and was confirmed when a telephone call was put through to Constable Dunlop. A Pitiful fjcenc. When at 11.10 p.m. a Southland Times reporter reached the bridge several cars were drawn up on either side and a knot of people were gathered on its western end. In about ten feet of water near the western bank could be seen a dull gleam from the lights of the submerged car. The uprights and railing of the bridge lay strewn down the bank. The ill-fated occupants of the car had already been under water for more than half an hour and it was impossible to believe that, even if the doors and windows had all remained closed, they could still be alive. But the fact that three people had succeeded in getting clear made it evident that a door or window had been opened or broken. Therefore although everyone worked frantically to get the car to the surface, underlying the efforts was the tragic knowledge that Mrs Milne, her sister and her daughter were already drowned. Those engaged in rescue operations found that the tackle was inadequate for the unusual circumstances. The difficulty was to get the hook at the end of the rope to catch hold of any part of the submerged car. Once it seemed as if the eager efforts were to be rewarded, but when the strain was taken the hook slipped off. Helpless Onlookers.

More and more cars began to arrive at the Invercargill side of the bridge, their occupants standing in mute horror at the pitiful scene below the bridge. The steady though dull gleam from the lights of the hidden car seemed to accentuate the force of the tragedy and the helplessness of those on the bridge to save the three imprisoned women from their dreadful fate. At about 12.30 the hook did remain fast and it seemed that success was to be achieved, for - the car was drawn to the surface. Then to everyone’s

dismay the rope snapped, probably the force of the current added to the weight of the car causing this to happen. A Dreadful Ordeal. In the meantime the distracted husband waited in a room at the hotel for news, hoping against hope that the force of reasoning was wrong—-that his loved ones would by some miracle be saved. With extreme diffidence the reporter approached him to glean the details of the tragedy. “I have been over the bridge hundreds of times,” he said. “I never drive fast on account of my wife being nervous. The car had almost stopped when it finally struck the right side of the bridge. I never dreamt there was any danger then. If only the woodwork hadn’t been so rotten. If only I’d been goin- faster. With more speed on the car would have landed oh top of the hank. As is was it just toppled over. I don’t know how I got out of the car. I think I must have been jerked backwards through a window. For a moment I thought I could pull some of the others out, for the car seemed to stay near the edge. Then the current caught it and swept it further out and into deeper water.” Mr Taylor could not say exactlj' how he escaped from the car. He remembered making frantic efforts to open the door. Then water poured into his mouth and he shot to the surface. His overcoat and heavy clothing hampered his efforts to reach the bank and he was swept under the bridge, but he managed—as he described it—to flounder ashore with his lungs half filled with water. Miss Milne's Narrow Escape. Miss Lily Milne fared even worse. On getting free from the car she was carried by the current well below the bridge. Her efforts to keep afloat were partially successful, but her head several times went under. She was on the point of abandoning hope when her outstretched hands clutched the overhanging branches of a willow tree. She tried to pull herself out, but the branches were too frail and the current too strong. On hearing voices on the bridge she called out in the hope of attracting attention. Who rescued her she does not know, for she lapsed into insensibility and was pulled out of the water in a half-drowned state. Mrs Baird soon had her in a hot bath and between warm sheets' where she made a rapid recovery. Car Not Raised. Mr Angus Macintosh’s motor ambulance came to the assistance of Russell’s service truck in the attempt to bring the car to the surface. Several times the hook held and success was anticipated, but always something went wrong. At 3 a.m. the car had not been raised, and it was realized that the chances were against this being accomplished until daylight