FARMER SUED.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16149, 1 March 1918, Page 5

FARMER SUED.

SEQUEL TO STREET COLLISION. £1000 DAMAGES CLAIMED. * At the Supreme Court yesterday, before his Honour Mr Justice Chapman and a common jury of twelve, Frederick Walter Scarf, tramway conductor, of Christchurcb, claimed from A, T. , Beatty, farmer,"Hawkins, Darfiekl, the j aims of £1000 general and £20 special j damages in respect of an accident sus- I tained by plaintiff through being run , over by defendant's motor-car. Alleged negligence in driving on the part of defendant was claimed to be the cause of the accident. Plaintiff was represented by Mr S. G. Raymond, R.C. (with him ' Br Upham), while Mr F. W. Johnston ippeared for the defence. before opening his case, Mr Raymond jnpliod leave to amend the special da mages to £114 14s, tho suni of th© nodical and hospital expenses mcun ed h- lyitiintiff,"S together -with the nine of theJoicycle destroyed. Leave having been granted, Mr.Rayuond outlined the case for the plaintiff, l who was/n tramway conducter, aged 29, nferrio# and with one child. The action arose (Jut of a collision between the pkintife, who was riding a bicyclei and tie defendant, who' was driving a motorcar, at tho corner of' C lombo and Tuam stfeets, on April 30th last. The plaintiff was riding slowly along Colombo sheet, and was on his right sido of the rod. A tramcar pulled up at the Tuam street corner, and plaintiff rodo past it until the intersection of the streets, where he was struck by a motor-car driven ty. Boatty. As a of the accident plaintiff liad to have liis right foot amputated, and was, Mr Raymond claimed, permanently invalided. Giving evidence, the plaintiff said ; that at the time W the accident lie had : been employed eleven months as a conductor, and was a._student motorman. Part of his instruction in that capacity had been to keep a -watch on traffic. Ho had ridden-a bicycle for years, and had nover had a collision before. On the day of the accident lie - was crossing Tuam street, when lie noticed a motorcar, going east, crossing Colombo street. Ho swerved to the right', and the motorcar increased its speed, but-did not turn aside to avoid hiiii. To Mr Johnston: Witness was riding at the rate" of five "or six miles an hour when be reached Tuam street. He had neither brake nor bell. He was carrying his coat over 'his shoulder. Frederick William Freeman, licensed surveyor, of Chwstchurch, gave formal evidpneo regarding the scene of the accident. ' James Cowanlock, tramway motorman, said he was conductor on the tramcar passed by Scarf on ,the afternoon of April 30th. The tram was travelling at • less than ten miles an hour. Scarf was priding his bicycle very steadily, nt about eisit miles an hour. When the tram •stopped-at Tuam street he did not give "the signal to the motorman to go on, as Iw taw. a motor-car approaching. Tho motor-car was travelling at a low spee:l sodjras under control, but was on its . Wrong side of the road. He heard tho wash; of the collision, and afterward 1 ; «£skfld to take Scarf to the lospital. Defendant demurred, saying Iftfaad to go to the railway station. Ono of the ladies in Beatty's car said it did not matter about getting to the station, and asked defendant to take Scarf to the ,i hosD'tal. Defendant did not do so, but , .said something about getting a car from , a near-by garage. A nur?e who came ' on the sc*ne later said Scarf would havo to have the ambulance. Cross-examined by Mr Johnston, wit- ; ; 'pess said he had refused to make a -statement to a member of. Mr John- ' ston's staff, but was not antagonistic to defendant. ■ ■ Bessie.Harvey Maddren said that on April 30th, when she was cycling north, she 'saw plaintiff riding'ahead of her. i:-. She. was travelling at a slow pace. She f saw'tlmmotor-car coming down on its Bpng side of the road. It appeared to travelling too fast for a town cross- - m g-'. • t - Dr. John Guthrie, of the .honorary ri the Christchurch Hospital, gave 't endenco as to the injuries sustained by plaintiff, £ / Frederick Aldersley, tramwa.v motoric n&n, gave, evidence corroborating that f oF James Cowanlock and others.

Herbert Mcintosh, city motor inspector, said that although there was no by-law on the subject, it was the recognised rule of the road that traffic going along a primary street had preference over that travelling on a secondary or subsidiary street. The city by-laws provided that all wheeled vehicles should travel oyer crossings at not more than • six miles an hour. Had defendant been travelling at that speed he should have been able to pull up in half the length of the car. In his opinion, plaintiff liad been, right in trying to swerve to the right and run, alongside the motor instead of to tlic left, and risking running right into I it. To Mr Johnston: Tho by-laws made it compulsory for every bicycle to have I a bell. Witness would have done tho I same as plaintiff in the same circumI stances, and turned to the right. Frederick Michael Verraty, aged 17, gave evidence of having seen the • motor-car, driven by Beatty, coming | down Tuam street. Tho speed was j from fifteen to twenty miles an hour. | In his opinion it was travelling fast. , He did not see Scarf before the acci- ! dent, but he hoard the crash of the impact and went back. He saw Scarff dragged from under tho car, which was about the middle of the road. The evidence of Edgar Benham, tailor, of Sydenham, now gone from New Zealand, taken on deposition, was 1 read by the Registrar. Benham stated that the motor-car was travelling at a fast pace and detailed his part in pulling plantiff from under the car. That closed the case for the plaintiff. For the defence, Andrew Thomas Beatty stated that, on April 30th ho ' came down Tuam street in his ear. He 1 slowed down when about 40 yards from tiie corner of Colombo street. As ho came to the corner a spring dray crossed Tuam street in front of him, and ho had to slow down, necessitating him getting into first gear. He was then on his own side of the road, but to pass the cart he had to swerve out a little to the right. He did not change gears. His speed was about fivo or sis miles, and he sounded his horn. At • tho intersection ho looked to the right and saw the stationary . tramcar. When he saw Scarf on his „ bicycle he accelerated a little and swerved to try and avoid colliding with i him. Scarf also swerved, and the • street having been recently watered, ! the bicycle appeared to skid, and, tho motor ran into him. Witness at onco applied the brakes, but the front wheels had already passed over plaintiff. Witness got out of the car, and • several people came over to tho scene ' of the accident. Scarf was pulled out i from undor the car, and witness offered . to take him to the hospital, but' a nurse who cam© on the scene said that it was necessary to get the ambulance as Scarf was too badly injured to be N taken in an ordinary car. He had driven a car for fivo years, although • he had not taken out a driver's certincat© in Christchurch or in his own dis-Cross-examined. by Mr Raymond, witness stated that plaintiff was obviously going to have a street accident before the car struck him, owing to his bicycle /skidding on tho wet road. Corroborative evidence was given by ' Evelvn May Boatty, wife of defendant. The Court then adjourned until this morning. ' CASUALTIES. — $ R. P. Gray, mercer, 687 Colombo strcot, fell from a step-ladder in his shop yesterdnv afternoon, and broke his left wrist. He was admitted to tho Hospital for treatment. (I'IIESS ASSOCIATION' TELEGRAMS.) WANGANUI, February 28. A returned soldier named Frank Samuel Marshal) was found hanging by the neck, dead, in the Union Rowing Club's boatslicti this morning. He is believed to have enlisted in Dunec.in and served on-Gallipoli. HASTINGS, February 23. The six-year-old son-of Pae __ Otene was killed instantly on the Karamu , Bridge, being struck by a motor-cycle and knocked into + he creek beiow. Deceased and his brother wore playing on ■ the bridge. The cyclist was stunned. , • FEILDING, February 28. Henry Tonka, a conuncrcial traveller, was found dead in bed this morning. . He had evidently died, while asleep, of ; heart failure. He was a widower with two children, and resided at Wanganui. mnTT*-'- ' aoti