Escaped When Hit By Slip

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31108, 11 July 1966, Page 14

Escaped When Hit By Slip

(New Zealand Press Association)

PALMERSTON NORTH, July 10. Five people, including three children, had a narrow escape from death on Friday when their car was caught in a slip in the middle of the Manawatu Gorge.

A falling boulder caught the car and pushed the back of the roof down almost to the level of the back seat. A slip that followed pushed the car into the safety fence, breaking the rails. The car stopped just short of a 100-foot drop.

cuts and bruises from stones that came through the broken windscreen.

They were treated at the first aid post at the gorge entrance.

The driver of the car was Mr T. Jackson, aged 19, of Gisborne. His passengers were his aunt, Mrs B. W. Boyden, of Te Papakuku, Dannevirke, and three of her children.

No-one was seriously injured, although the driver had his shoulder cut and bruised. The others were badly shaken, but only received minor

Ministry of Works men say that the car was saved from being pushed over the sheer drop by boulders which surged under the car, lifting it clear of the road and jamming it against the broken posts on the edge of the gorge.

The slip covered 25ft of the road to depths of up to 100 ft. The three children were sitting in the back of the car. When Mr Jackson saw the first stones of the slip coming he braked hard. The children were thrown clear, on to the back of the front seat, a split second before a boulder, heavier than two men could lift—crashed on to the back of the car, pushing the roof down to within six inches of the seat cushion. Another boulder struck the driver’s door and bounced through the glass on to Mr Jackson’s shoulder.

Whisky Exports. Scotch whisky exports during the January-April period set a record for the first four months of any year—--11,056,000 gallons valued at more than £32 million. Last year's comparative figures were 9,804,000 gallons valued at just over £26 million. — (Reuter.)