TRAM FATALITY AT NEWTOWN

Dominion, Volume 15, Issue 56, 30 November 1921, Page 7

TRAM FATALITY AT NEWTOWN

ELDERLY MAN KNOCKED DOWN

CORONER HOLDS MOTORMAN BLAMELESS

(' An inquest was held yesterday after- ' noon by Mr. W. G. Riddell, S.M., into the circumstances surrounding tho death of Matthew Hoare, in the Wellington Hospital on Monday last, ne the result of injuries received through being knocked down .by a tramcar in Riddiford Street. Sergeant McKelvie appeared for tho police, and Mr. J. O'Shea (city solicitor) for the Tramway Department. Andrew Hoare, a son of the decerned, said that his father was 80 years of ago ami 'his mother was 75 years old. Dp to the time of the accident his father enjoyed apparent good health. His sight was good, but his hearing was defective. Dr. Park, house surgeon at tho hospital, said that when admitted to the hospital Hoare was suffering from shock, injuries to i'he head, and contusion of the brain. Ho remained practically unconscious up to the time of his death at 2 a.m. on Monday. The cause of death', was contusion of the brain. Arthur Porter, said that on the day of the accident he wss toe driver of car No. 114. He left Lambton at 7.55 p.m. and arrived at th-j Newtown Post Office about 8.15 p.m. Tho night was dark and misty. The car was travelling nt about eight miles per hour, and when opposite Normanby Street witness saw an object on the line. Ho immediately clanged the gong and applied. the emergency brake, bringing the car to a standstill in three or four ya ids, ■but too lato to avoid striking tho man. Had Hoare responded to tho sound of the gong, he could have got clear easily, but he/was deaf-and did not' quicken his pace. To Mr. O'Shea: When witness first observed Hoare he was then 14 yards av.ay and apparently cressing the tramline. Alfred Daly,' conductor, corroborated the evidence of the previous witness. '■ Cocjl J. Bradshaw said that on the evening in question he was near the Newtown Post Office. Ho saw a man crossing tho road, and also saw a firm ■approaching. The man did not seem to hurry as the car neared him. Witness did not actually see the man struck by tho car,, which was pulled up riharply. The lighting of the street where the accident Occurred was not good. George L. Hooper, passenger on the tramcar, said that as the cur the post office ho “moved towards the footboard to get off. Tho car pulled up suddenly, and when witness alighted he found that a man had been knocked down. The speed of the car just before being pulled up was about eight miles P Tho Coroner found that death was cue to contusion of the brain caused through being accidentally knocked down by a tramcar. He added that as far as the evidence went, it was shown that the motorman did everything possible to stop the car before striking the man, and there was no blame attachable to him.