THE LATE BUGGY CATASTROPHE.

Kumara Times, Issue 2548, 21 August 1884, Page 3

THE LATE BUGGY CATASTROPHE.

[to the editor.]

Sir—As one who was actually in' the buggy at the time of its breakdown, I claim a word, both on my own behalf, and on behalf of my fellow-travelers, as well as in the interest of the traveling public. 1. The buggy in question was hired on the distinct and expressed understanding that it was thoroughly secure in all its fittings. The proprietor was warned of the dangerous nature of the road, and acquainted of the number and names of those who were to travel in the vehicle.

2. I took ray seat in the buggy, not as driver, and passed over the Zigzag, until within about twenty yards of where I was unceremoniously thrown from the conveyance without my atteution in the least being arrested by anything unusual in the rate of speed down the Zigzag. About twenty yards from the scene of the disaster, I felt a rocking motion in the boggy, and the next minute I was lying cut and bruised in the centre of the road—the horses and under part of the ouggy nowhere to be seen.

3. I examined the whole scene carefully, and I hereby testify, that the wheels of the baggy came In omitnc: with no obstacle .vludover. I mewled the distance or ihe nonreso lii.w g from the edge cf the guctsi, aul fo.iud it to be two lengths of :..y *-.0; . 1 . On gutting up, I fcu.-.d id... of the bugg; aim:/*; 0.. d... the road, and the only d.v ■ the mullock bank ” v/<.s a .j”vJu indentation caused by me cot ner ox u.e hood as it bounded from the under pa 1 of the buggy. O O d 4, As to the “ stump ” said to be ‘‘torn by the roots fro-n con tact by vho

hood of the buggy,” I have carefully examined the same. The only stump visible at that part of the road is at least ten feet below the scene of the collapse. It has no roots at all, but came away from its resting-place in the hand of Mr Wood in getting up from the mud in which he was thrown. The stump in question is not thicker than a man’s arm, and lay in its original position, not more than the height of the wheels from the road, as may be seen.

5. As to the impressions of hoofprints on the “ mullock bank yes, but they happen to be those of cows, not of horses, as may still be verified. 6. As to the speed with which the horses went down the highway, surely I am in a better position to testify than those who were not there at all*; and I say this, that there was no furious driving nor rate of speed to cause the least alarm, until the affair began to fall to pieces by its own inherent weakness. No doubt the horses were fresh from the stable and went briskly along, but what, sir, is the use of a vehicle, if it will not hold together on a common thoroughfare so long as it comes in collision with nothing, and the horses keep the road, and are within command ? Here four sober men leave Kumara with a vehicle assured to be trustworthy in every respect, and before it reaches the foot of the Zigzag it falls to pieces by its own frailty; one man has his arm broken, another his head cut and bruised, and all seriously shaken. Are we to have no redress in this case and to be charged with wreckless driving and saddled with the expense of repair of a buggy that should never, on the evidence of those who know, have been allowed to leave the proprietor’s premises on any such journey 1 7. As to the frame work of the hood being broken, it is almost impossible for it to have escaped. But how, sir, did it leave the under part at all, seeing that the four wheels and the horses never once left the road ? The fixing of the upper to the lower part has been examined by more than one expert. and (be opinion freely expressed is that it was altogether insecure, and the surprise expressed that the buggy ever reached so far down the highway in safety.

I shall not regret the matter being brought into Court, not merely for damages, but to have the responsibility of licensed buggy hire dnly raised and discussed. In this [ express the mind of my fellows in that day’s collapse.— tf*ours very truly, George Hay. August 20, 1884.