SMALL BOY'S DEATH

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 8, Issue 42, 23 January 1945, Page 5

SMALL BOY'S DEATH

EVIDENCE AT INQUEST

TE. WHAITI FATALITY

' The inquest into the death of Cedric Lyle Wallace, aged 5% years youngest son of Mrs Iris Flora Wallace i} of Te Whaiti, who was; killed when he was struck by a falling tree limb in, the Minganui; Stream at Te Whaiti on January 11, was. held at Te Whaiti iast. week and concluded in Kotorua at the week-end before Mr W. L. J.P. Evidence was given by two youthr ful witnesses Hilton Wallace, aged nine years brother of deceased and. Geoffrey Morris, aged 10, of Ponsonby, who was staying at Te Whaiti for the school holidays. They stated that they had gone to the Minganui Stream at 9.30 a.m. on the Thursday morning and had subsequently gone over to the opposite side of the stream for' the purpose of cutting away some vines from a tree truck with a tomahawk which they had with them. The three, boys hajcl each taken it in turns to cut. the vines from the trunk which they wished to sit on. The task proved too difficult, however and so they went back and sat on the sandy bank on the other side of the stream. Soon after that they heard a rending noise and noticed that the tree was falling in their direction. The three boys scattered, but a limb hit the youngest Cedric Wallace falling on top of him and in'juring his head and the right thigh. He was taken home and then conveyed to the Rotorua Hospital by truck but death occurred about 12 miles before the town was reached. Evidence was also given, by Constable L. Bidois, of Te Whaiti a and Dr. E. H. Bridgeman, of the Rotorua Hospital who said that he had examined deceased and found he had a fractured femur, skull wounds and a compressed fracture of the skullj. Remarking that it was a most tragic accident, Mr Richards gave , his finding on Dr. evi- ( dence. •