THE HIGH STREET FATALITY.

Wairarapa Age, 13 December 1920, Page 3

THE HIGH STREET FATALITY.

COHONEirS IXgUEST. I An enquiry touching flit'" death ol 31 r John Kennedy Cooper, who was , killed in the collision in High street on Thursday evening, was held on Saturday morning before '.Mr R. 0. Eton, District Coroner. .Mr T. Jordan appeared on behalf ol the insurance company, and Mr H. 10. Hart'on liehall' ol' the Public Trustee. Martha Mackay, boardinghousokeeper, 25 Kurif>uiii street, said that deceased boarded at her house lor the past eight and a hull' years. He was a butcher by occupation, and was employed by Mr 1;. Bnteller, ol the Kuripuni Butchery. He knocked oil' work on the oth inst. at 1.2 o'clock noon. Me hail dinner, and left on his bicycle between .S and I o'clock. Witness did not again see him alive. Deceased was of very temperate habits. Ho was slightly deal' in the lelfc car, having undergone an operation some, time ago in \Vellingtoii? lie had also taken to wearing spectacles when ho was reading. . •-

Xurse. fsabtd -\^lcKeuzie said that .she duty at the hospital on Thursdaynights* Deceased was in an unconscious condition. anil remained in that slate until- he died at 1.10 a.m. the following morning. Deceased received every possible attention. 'Dr. J. A. Gftly;ie said that shortly after ."j o'clock "«>s, Thursday afternoon he w as an accident on tho~ He found deceased lying on '-the road in a state of extreme sh<s£% and rjuito unconscious. Deceased Vyvns conveyed to the hospital in a motor. Upon thorough examination it was found that deceased bad bruises on the left side of his skull in (he temple region, and an abrasion over the right cheek bone. The patient's condition gradually became worse, and Ills heart failed; deceased dying about 1 o'clock in the morning. Witness made a post mortem examination, and found a fracture at the base of the skull in the left temple region. The cause of death was hemmorhage inside tlie skull, due to fracture and contusion of the brain tissue. The said injuries would he caused by a blow on the hard ground or coming into contact with a moving object. Deceased was sick alter admission t<* the hospital, and the stomach contents smelt of alcohol. Hugh;!lood; barman at the Taratatii Hotel, said that deceased called into the. hotel -on the (Hit. in the afternoon. He had; his bicycle. He had two beers to drink, and purchased a flask - of whisky to take away. Witness asked deceased if he was taking the whisky to Masterton. and he replied "Xo." After deceased left the hotel he proceeded towards Carterton. Witness did not see deceased on the return journey. Deceased was perfectly sober when he called at the hotel The flask of whisky produced (found on deceased) was similar to tho olio

ihe bought at r'hs heel. Roger Edward Fairfax Cholmeley, inspector for the Public Trust, said that he left Masterton shortly after 5 o'clock on the 9th, going; towards Carterton. He was the solo, occupant of tho motor car. He was travelling along tho road at between 20 and 25 miles an hour, as registered by his speedometer. Near tho Llupguni trees ho could see a man coming on a bicycle nearly half a mile away. The cyclist was on his wrong .side of the* road He came along steadily in the same line all the way. Witness was travelling in his car on his proper side of the road. When the cyclist was about thirty yards from him, witness moved slightly to the right, not more than a loot, so as to give him more room if he wished to continue the way he was going. Witness also steadied the car. When about 17 yards or less l away, the deceased endeavoured to cross in front of the car to get on his proper side of the road. Witness turned his car further over towards his left hand side of the road. Deceased in crossing appeared to hesitate, and ran straight into the l»onnet of the car. Witness, upon seeing that an accident was inevitable, immediately cut off the benzine and put on the foot brake The car hit the deceased and the bicycle before witness could stop, and upon getting out he found deceased lying under the centre of the car. The car conld not have gone more than three feet after striking deceased Witness extricated deceased from under the. car, laid him on the road, and attended to him. Witness called a little boy, and sent him to telephone for a doctor and the police. The constable took measurements of the position of the car and the marks on the road. If deceased had continued on his wrong side he would have had ample room—nine paces —to get through. Thomas Smith, manager of the S.P Store, said that he was coming from the Carterton direction in a car, and saw that there had been an accident near Judd's bluegums. Witness attended to deceased. In deceased's coat pocket was a flask of whisky. Witness wet deceased's lips with whisky, and stayed with him until the doctor arrived. Willie Ward, a schoolboy, said that ho was in Judd's paddock, when he heard a crash. He ran to the fence and saw a lot of dust flying up. He then saw a man. stop out of a motor car and drag another man from tinder the car. The driver of the car told witness to run and telephone for a doctor, which he did. Constable Phillips, who visited the scene of the "accident, said that when he arrived .Mr Cholnieley\s car was standing nine paces from the fence on his correct side of tho road, and fourteen paces from the other fence Seventeen paces hack from behind Cholmelcv's ear the tracks showed that the wheels had skidded as if the brakes had been applied. From the position of the car it was clear that deceased had ample room to pass on either sido of the car. The ear was on its proper side of the road. Witness considered 23 miles an hour was not too fast for a car to bo travelling at this part of the road. The Coroner returned a verdict that deceased met his death through injuries received in an accidental collision with a motor car driven by Itodger Edward Fairfax Oholmeley The Coroner remarked- that if was quite plain that the driver of the car had taken every care to avoid tho collision, but the unfortunate cyclist had by some means made an error of judgment and the collision occurred.