ACCIDENTS AND FATALITIES.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2180, 19 June 1914, Page 7

ACCIDENTS AND FATALITIES.

'■■' : —»- " TRAM ACCIDENT. DEATH OF MR. H. PRITCHARD. :As .ai.r.egult, ~,with a tramcar ih : .Cuba .Street' i)ig, Henry Pritchard, a well-known Ayeilin'gtdh'residont, lost his life. - ,Tho ' in Upper ' Cuba Street ajt. a few 'minutes 'past 11 a.m., and Mr. Pritchard received injuries to which he succumbed at the Hospital at 1,15 p.m'.i It appears that as tramcar N T o. 42, in charge of Motorman Murch, )»:as proceeding to Wallace Street, it jtnick deceased (who was riding a bicycle), at tlie;. corner of Cuba Street and Abel Smith Street. Dr. Mackin was called to attend the case, and found that the injuries included fracture of the base of the skull. "' " In the courso of a statement made to the police, Albert- Murch, motorman, said .that he ■ first saw: deceased in tho centre of the street. He was approaching the car.at fasr speed, and as he g°t near he attempted to turn across tho line at an angle. He (the motorman) sounded his gong, and slowed the tram down; but deceased came straight on, and, just as the emergency-brake was applied, he collided with the car. The conductor of the_tram, Albert Oram, has made a similar'statement to the-police. An inquest will be held, but the date has not yet been fixed.

Tiie lato Mr. Pritchard, who has been in Wellington for riearly half a century, was a well known and highly-respected resident. He was between 60 years and 70 years age, and was a native o£ Monmouthshire, England. Ho was a grocer by trade, and was at different times in business in Taranaki Street, Brougham Street, Courtenay Place, Manners Street, arid Adelaide Road. By his death, the. Church of Christ, Riddiford Street, loses a prominent member. He was one of the church trustees and an enorgetic Sunday Rqhool worker. Ho'leaves a widow (a daughter of the late Mr. William Mitchell, of Mitchelltown). LAUNCH EXPLOSION. IBy Teleeraph.—P»»~i Association.* Thames, Juno 18. An explosion on a fishing. launch in tho Gulf early this morning' resulted in serious burns being suffered by two brothers, William' and Archibald Irwin, of Tararu; The explosion occurred while they were filling the tank, the two men receiving injuries to their heads and arms and the upper part of their bodies., - ■ , Both were taken to the Hospital. The elder man, William, is the more seriously injured. He'received fearful burns on tho head, face, arms, and eyes, and his condition is critical. The younger is in a serious condition. CAUGHT BY TRAIN ON BRIDGE. Auckland, June 18. An elderly man, unidentified, carrying a medal inscribed "Private S. Thome," and a letter addressed to a resident of Rangiriri, was overtaken by the Thames express while walking over the Rangiriri Bridge. Death was instantaneous.