KILLED BY LOADED DRAY
LAD THROWN WIIILE CYCLING.
(Per Press Association.) DUNEDIN. This Day. A boy named John Stewart Reid, aged 13, was killed this morning through his bicycle skidding and throwing him under the wheels of a loaded dray. -Ashburton Guardian, 20/6/1925.
TRAGEDY AT MAORI HILL
A BOY KILLED. CRUSHED BY A DRAY.
A tragic accident occurred at Highgate, near the corner of Driver’s road, Maori Hill, at 8.50 on Saturday morning, when a boy named John Stewart Reid, aged 13 years, was killed. He was riding a bicycle, and was just opposite a dray drawn by two horses when his machine struck an obstruction and he fell under the wheel. He called out, but the driver, who was walking beside the horses on the other side, with the reins in his hand, was not able to pull up in time. The lad was taken to the Dunedin Hospital in a taxi-cab, but he died on admission. He lived with his mother, who is a widow, at No. 4 Sargood street, Bishopscourt.
An inquest was opened at the Hospital before Mr J. R. Bartholomew, S.M., and after evidence of identification had been taken, the inquiry was adjourned to a later date. When news of the sad occurrence reached McGlashan College, of which school the deceased was a pupil, classes were suspended for the remainder of the day as a mark of sympathy. -Otago Daily Times, 22/6/1925.
“TRAP FOR CYCLISTS"
PROJECTING TRAM RAILS AT HlGHGATE
CORONER'S STRICTURES
INQUEST ON SCHOOLBOY CONCLUDED.
The adjourned inquest into the circumstances of the death of John Stewart Reid, thirteen years of age, who was killed at Highgate on Saturday morning last, when a dray drawn by two horses passed over him, was resumed at the court-house this morning. Mr J. R. Bartholomew, S.M., sat as coroner, and Detective Beer conducted the case on behalf of the police. Mr H. E. Barrowclough appeared for the City Corporation, and Mr Lemon tor the relatives of the deceased.
EVIDENCE BY DRIVER.
James Alexander McKay, a driver employed by Calder’s Quarry Syndicate, said that on June 20 last he was drving a dray at about 9 a.m. along Highgate, Roslyn. The dray was loaded with metal, and drawn by two horses. Witness was walking on the left hand side. He heard a cry when nearing the intersection of Drivers road and Highgate, and looked round, to see the off-side wheel passing over a boy’s face. He went to the back of the dray and saw a boy lying unconscious, with a bicycle lying beside him. Two other men lifted the deceased into a motor car, and the boy was taken to the hospital. The deceased was bleeding from the mouth. Witness was driving on the left hand side, of the street and he was as near the kerbstone as he could get. There was an up grade on the road at the spot where the accident occurred. He was going at a walking pace. He estimated the weight of the dray to be 34cwt. He did not see anything of the boy until he heard the cry.
To Mr Barrowclough: He was probably a foot out from the kerb.
PURELY ACCIDENTAL.
William Maiden, accountant, stated that at about 8.50 a.m. on the day of the accident he was walking along Highgate, almost in the centre of the road. He was about 60yds away from where the accident happened. The outside wheel of the dray would be about a yard from the tram rail. The boy was coming towards him, and he saw him fall under the wheel. The whole thing appeared to be unavoidable, and he was satisfied that it was a pure accident.
A FROSTY ROAD.
Reginald Smith Vial, aged eleven, said that he was going up towards the Roslyn tram terminus to catch the 9 o’clock car, when he saw the dray, and also a bicycle. The boy on the bicycle tried to turn on the car line, but shot across under the dray. The boy was not going fast. Witness heard the boy yell, and saw the driver of the dray, which was going at walking pace, stop his vehicle and go to help the boy. The driver of the dray was walking beside the dray with the reins in his hands. He thought that the boy on the bicycle meant to turn back on the way to Highgate to go to school. The road was very frosty.
In reply to Mr Barrowclough, witness stated the boy Reid used to go down Balmacewan road to get to McGlashan College. Witness thought that if the deceased had taken a sharper turn he would have run into one of the horses. Deceased had not been talking to any boys who were standing at a center further down the road.
OTHER WITNESSES.
Dr Charles David Read, house surgeon at the Dunedin Hospital, said that the boy, when witness saw him, was dead. There were several facial lacerations, and the skull was fractured.
Detective John Farrquharson, who had examined the scene of the accident at about 11.30 on the morning of the fatality, produced a rough plan of the locality, which he had prepared as a result of his investigations. He had also taken measurements, which he detailed. He examined the bicycle and found that there was a distinct rubbing round the right hand side of the front tyre.
To Mr Barrowclough: There was a muddy mark on the inside of the rail, which went for a distance of 6ft 6in. He thought that the boy might have skidded into the rail owing to the frost on the ground.
James Alex. McKay, recalled, said that the boy’s body was lying at an angle towards the rails.
THE VERDICT.
The Coroner said that it was a particularly sad accident. The lad had been riding between the tram rails towards Maori Hill, a loaded dray going in the opposite direction. When almost opposite the dray the boy turned in towards it, and in doing so the bicycle skidded on the rails. The boy was thrown and projected outwards, his head falling under the wheel of the dray. The explanation of the accident could only be a matter for conjecture, but there was some evidence of the factors that had contributed to it. The schoolboy in giving evidence stated that deceased probably turned back to the school, but this was only a matter of surmise. However, it appeared to him (the coroner) that the deceased struck the raised rail. He had made, an inspection of the line in the vicinity, and he considered that, in parts, it was dangerous for cyclists. In between the rails the surface of the road was worn away, and the projecting rail was a trap for cyclists, who would almost inevitably come to grief there. The spot outride the rails was better than that between, but he did not know why that was so. In other places in the same neighborhood the same conditions existed, and it was not surprising that accidents happened. In the present case it was unfortunate that the dray was in the spot it was when the boy fell, or he might have escaped with a shaking. The Coroner found that death was due to fracture of the skull, caused by being crushed by a dray after an accidental fall from a bicycle. -Evening Star, 26/6/1925.
McGLASHAN COLLEGE
YESTERDAY'S CEREMONY (abridged)
The vacation ceremony of the John McGlashan College took place yesterday afternoon. There was a large attendance of parents of pupils and other friends of the college. The proceedings wore opened with Scripture reading and prayer.
The Rev .J. Kilpatrick (chairman of the board and Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand) was in the chair. He welcomed the parents and friends who were present, and referred to apologies for absence from the Hon. W. Downie Stewart, Mr T. K. Sidey, M.P., Mr James Begg, Mrs Nisbet, and Miss McGlashan. They were all delighted to have present with them again Sir John and Lady Ross. He would like to refer to one or two school matters. The principal’s term expired this year, but parents and boys would be delighted to learn that the board had reappointed him, and that he had accepted reappointment. (Applause.) Then there had been additions to the Board of Managers — Professor T. D. Adams. Professor R. Lawson. and Mr A. M. Cameron, a son of the late Dr Cameron, one of the best men Otago ever had. The speaker read the names of a number of friends of the school who had given to the school the amount of debentures they had taken up. The total sum wiped out was £11,633. The thanks of the school were due to those friends who had so generously given help.
Mr Colin M. Gilray, head master of the school, welcomed Mr and Mrs J. Sutherland Ross. They were glad, too, to see the parents of Mr Ross. (Applause.) He referred to examination successes, and later to changes in the staff. He paid tribute to the fine work of the matron (resigning), and made glowing mention of what the late Dr Cameron had done for education. He discussed the different activities of the school, and thanked the debenture-holders who had come forward to help, pointing out that those men must have been moved by a great faith in the school. In closing, he thanked many friends of the school for the interest they had taken in it, and referred to the excellent work of the staff. (Applause.) Mention was also made of the regretted accidental death of a pupil, John Stewart Reid, whose memory would be perpetuated by a scholarship which would bear his name.
Andersons Bay Cemetery, Dunedin.
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