CAR OVER BANK

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 90, 10 January 1935, Page 10

CAR OVER BANK

Prominent Woman Golfer Killed

BATHERS’ ESCAPE Accident Believed Due to “ Error Dominion Special Service. Auckland, January 9. Fatal injuries were received by sliss Jessie Reid, aged about 50. who was prominent in golfing circles, when the motor-car she was driving plunged over a 25ft. bank at the foot of Minnehaha Avenue, Takapuna, at 12.30 p.m. The vehicle narrowly missed striking a group of bathers ascending the bank by means of a pathway. Miss Reid had driven to Minnehaha Avenue with Miss 51, Fraser, of Parnell, to visit Mrs. P. 11. Upton, and also to bathe at Thorne’s Bay. Miss Fraser left the car, an English sedan model, and sliss Reid then moved the vehicle off, intending to park it beneath some Poliutukawa trees a short distance down the Avenue. People in the vicinity suddenly heard the roar of the engine, and it is assumed that Miss Reid inadvertently stepped on the accelerator instead of the' foot brake. The car jumped forward and went over the bank before the driver could regain control.

The vehicle passed over the neads of some bathers on the pathway beneath, and it struck an arm of the pathway further down. It continued >ts course and crashed at the foot of the bank without overturning. Assistance was immediately given the driver, but it was apparent that her injuries were fatal. The. steering wheel was broken, and it is thought that Miss Reid’s head struck it, her neck being broken. Surprisingly little damage was done t'o the car. . The car was hauled back on to the roadway after considerable difficulty.

.Miss Reid was a daughter of Mrs. John Reid. Her brothers are Mr. Sinclair Reid, of Milford, and Mr. A. Reid, of Wellington. Miss Reid was a pioneer member of the Auckland Ladies’Golf Club, and she was prominent for her deep interest in the organisation and promotion of the sport. She was captain of the club for five rears, and was •in active member of rite committee. She was also an executive member of the Ladies’ Golf Union of New Zealand, and she was chairman of that organisation for a term. Miss Reid returned to the Dominion last year, after accompanying the representative golfers, Miss Oliver Kay, of Dunedin, and Miss Bessie Gaisford, of Marton, on their tour, during which they competed in the British Women’s Golf championship.