FATAL MOTOR SMASH.

Manawatu Herald, Volume L, Issue 3951, 4 June 1929, Page 2

FATAL MOTOR SMASH.

AT BAD BEND. Te Kuiti ,June 3. On Saturday night a distressing motoring fatality occurred on the main road to New Plymouth, two miles south of To Kuiti. James Alexander Mathew, aged (17, and his son, Desinbnd G-eoige, aged 23. left Auckland on Saturday morning for (Malioeniiii, 30 miles from Te Kuiti. When negotiating a hairpin bend, the lights of the ear suddenly failed and the car went over a bank of 30 feet. It. struck a stump and turned over. Both the occupants were pinned underneath. Desmond was suffocated, being pinned on the chest and neck. The father suffered only minor injuries, but" considerable shock. The father was pinned by the steering wheel for an hour and a half before he could attract a passing -motorist, though many passed. The young man died soon after the accident, but the father had « terrible ordeal waiting for assistance. At the inquest on Sunday night a verdict of accidental death was returned. The Coroner added a rider that this spot should be safeguarded for motorists. Air. Matliew recently retired from the Police Force, in which he held the rank of sergeant. He was well known in Te Kuiti, Hamilton, and* Greymouth. He is now in the hospital at Te Kuiti suffering from shock.