TWO INFANTS KILLED

Taranaki Daily News, 4 January 1933, Page 9

TWO INFANTS KILLED

CAPSIZE OF EXPRESS LORRY HOLIDAY TRAGEDY IN OTAGO. VEHICLE OVERTURNS ON HILL. TWO OTHERS SUFFER INJURIESDunedin, Jap. 2, A proposed New Year’s Day holiday visit to the seaside had a. tragic ending on Saturday morning at Grange Hill, 0° the road from Milton, to Bull Creek, the popular seaside resort • for Milton and district residents, when a four-wheeled light express lorry, drawn by two horses, capsized. As a result two lives were lost and two persons injured. The victims were: Frances Marion Carruthers, aged one year and nine months, killed outright; Iris Joyce Carruthers, aged three months, died in the hospital from spinal injuries; Daphne May Carruthers, aged five years and six months, severe head injuries, in a critical condition, but brighter hopes are entertained to-day for her recovery; Mrs. Stapeley, Green Island, abrasions and shockA party comprising Mr. and Mrs. Lionel M. Carruthers, of Rawukau, their six young children, also Mr. August Rekowski (Mrs. Carruthers’ father), left their home with the intention of spending the day at the seaside. Mr. Carruthers was driving the express. En route to the coast the party was joined' by a district resident, Mr. William Hutton, and by some holiday visitors, Mi’, and Mrs. Stapeley, Green Island, and their young child. The horses plodded steadily along a rather stiff pull up Grange Hill, portions of which are recognised by drivers of motor-cars and other vehicles as requiring extreme care. Nearing the summit of the long ascent the road branches off for a “short cut” to the coast. Mr. Carruthers had driven his horses to the junction of these roads when he decided to take the Short cut. In order to give the horses a spell three adult male members of the party, Messrs. Hutton, Rekowski and Stapeley, and two of the older children alighted from the vehicle and walked. Mr. Carruthers commenced to negotiate the steep pinch, but then considered the pull too difficult, He stopped the horses and endeavoured to turn the vehicle on the lock, but the road proved too narrow and the angle too steep. At the critical moment one of the. horses started forward and the express turned over on its side. The majority of the party were thrown clear and escaped with minor bruises and abrasions, but Mrs, Stapeley and three of the young children were binned beneath the express., A verdict of accidental death was returned at the inquest held this afternoon.