A DISTRESSING FATALITY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 59, 20 April 1907, Page 2

A DISTRESSING FATALITY.

DEATH OK Jilt E. .M. t»UTH, J1.11.J!. RESULT OF A RAILWAY ACCIDKXT. -News Hashed about New Plymouth shortly after eleven o'clock yesterday morning thai a serious accident had befallen -Ml- )•;. M. Smith, M.il.J!. The news was received with profound regret and not a litti - horror. I'Or some considerable time pas!, Mr Smith had been in a poor state of health, suH'cring niucu .from giddiness ami fainting lits. Within the past few days, however, he showed considerable mjpimoment, aiiti ye.stonlay moriiijiji' wa.-i ht'ijjhlcr and moiu iictivu Uiuu ho luul k'C'ii f.ir a iimo past. Jlo conscqeiifch' imdcrtook io to some nnitlern in comu'ction with his l'ariianuMitary \lutics, and m tli.it eoiiiit'ftioii ' vMlcrt llir i*ast oiid oi rile town. Afi the 11. J.") irain from Hie Smith pnlli'd lip at Klint strccl. .Mr ,Smith amvril at llustation, and was seen in run ami ho.ii'J ilk* rear carriaoi'. oviiinitly on tin* piatfonu. lie avus cvMriuly HOi alti'i'wa«■*[> noticed by anyone on "rite train, hut ju>t as the train was rounding a i-nrve on U)e line aaoiit mid-way between Cameron street and Klioi street-, a ictier earner noiieed n man ami tall between the carriage and the plationn o:' th« van. Miraculously, /.e fill, or iiHliitelively drew himself, h<-(-wcen the rails, so that his body was uiiharm l l'd by the wheels of tin; van. Xolhinjr hni a lnivachi prevented Eihoekinjx mutilation. He was, however, al(.n«* some yards by the undercuvriai'v, un»| no domm it was then the' injuries were sustained. The alarm was at onec-given, and assistance was immediately forthcoming, and Air Smith was carried to the side of the line, where his visible injuries, whidi consisted of a severe on the hack of the head, and minor contusion,-! ciiul u£lv bruises on the face were hastily a tended io. l)r Home arrived very promptly <>n th: 1

-ocno nnd -washed hik! dressed wounds as skilfully as tho soronndi permitted, and recommended Mr Snri removal to the hospital. The nnfoi nato jjonthnnan, though snil'oring < siderably from the injuries ami shr was perfectly conscious, and coiwei at intervals \viUi Dr Home, Mr W. •Tennin<>s. and members of famiiy who were hastily summoned, tho arrival of Messrs .T. McGaliov i A. Amhury, of the -AmOmaiHo Corps, Smith -was removed lo the hospital i partial state of collapse. lie siil quenily revived considerably and I the trying operation of dressing wounds with cmHUorsible fortitn Later on. however, the oU'eefc of a sli concussion manifested itself, and uradiailly collapsed, away pe; fnll.v in the presence of the member? his famiiy shortly after seven o'cl in the evening. An inrju 'st will he held, and the f oral will take place on Monday. SKETCH OF AX ACTIVE LIFE. The late Mr. E. M. Smith was a nal ol Staffordshire, having heen born Bradley Hall on 10th January, ISM, was a sou of the late Chas. Smith niomimental sculptor, and was clos related to tlie present well-known 3 family. He served his appi ticeship at the gun trade with She aud lloliis, and then passed his drjri as armourer at Pimlieo and afterwa at the Tower of London. Early in he displayed eousidemble invent •;enius. perfecting an armourers spci file and afterwards devising an armo er's lield forgo, for which he receive* bounty from the British War Oflico.T .'.ime type of iield forge \ras used by forces in the American Civil War." 1S(!1. lie was selected out of 120 apj cants to bring a shipment of rifles New Zealand, and arrived in Auekh in the ship African. 3fa remained some time in Xew Zealand, and Christmas Day of the same vear \ married to Miss Alary A. Holding, eld daughter of Mr. Nicholas (folding, n of Xew Plymouth. He soon afterwa returned to England to receive his ar discharge, and came back to his w in New Zealand in 18fii by the s Ironsides. He used, in his reflective j: menls, (o relate the fad. that he v born in tli<> ''iron country,'' was elu toned in an iron font, came to New / land iu th< i ship Ironsides, and had Ik in ironsand practically ever since, a a worker of iron nearly all his li Coming 1o Taranaki in 1805. lie v iti'moiirer Inv for the military srttl and 'the niilifia, witli his shop at 1 depot where the Drill Hull now stan Afterwards he had an armourer's shop Hoy's liuildiugs in Devon street. Ihen went to Wellington., under (iovoi "lent engagement, and started a mu arsenal. dust about this time he. w seized with an adventurous spirit, ai with a party travelled hy surf-boat the Mokau River. This" was in 18 when the whole countryside was'in ferment owing to the Maori rebejli. People told him lie was mad to dn\ ot penetrating (hat country, but tin was no deterring such a dominant: spi as his. He was then under secret trea with the late Sir Donald McLean, pacify the natives, after the "Wliitel massacre, and in this he was success]' It was at that time that he coneeiv the idea, ol Auckland-Waitara railwi communication, and always firmly ad\ eated the construction of'the line, bei ably seconded in later years in his eJVoi by Sir Alfred Cadman. Jt was not o ing to any lack of energy on the. pa of (lie late member that die line has n been constructed. Wheji he left t tiovernment employ, it ivas in urd to Jloat a company to work the Tar naki ironsand deposits, and he was t manager of (he concern which erect« works at Owing to a disagre uient with the directors he left thei and they went on with (he work, j a wry short time, however, the furiia. beciune clinked, and the directors sei lor Jiim. lie soon set matters right, ai the niolteu iron /lowing- fronMhe vi in ore in September, 1870. He was pul liely enteflained and received a «a*ej jvation at (he old Oddfellows-' Hall afti .his notable achievement. No great su •ess attended the ellorts to establish tl iron industry, and he acL-epted an cj rageiuent as suieltc-r witli the late M ). A. Vivian, who in 1870 had an iro "oundry next the Criterion Hotel, an here vej'y many interesting and success ul experiments were made with th ronsaml. At the time of the Pariliak c-are iii .JB/J) he received an appointmen t the liands of the general Oovernmcn s armourer Jo the forces. At this tini ie was an enthusiastic advocate of tii •C.v Plymouth harbor, and devwed i lan lor <-(»uneetiiig the sugarloaves witi lie mainland. This was ever his idea o "\v our harbor should Ik-'enclosed, am e iound many hfiii liejievers hi? 'heme, addressing a public meeting hen ii the question, lie v>'as employed sub '((tienlly by (he Xew Plymouth Har»r Board to do special work iu bra/Jnj: copper pipes, and afterwards left t< 'in the couliuetor for the town watei ipply, which led to Jus receiving an •pointiiH'iit in 188)} as perinauent overer in charge ..if tlie water service. In !81 Mr. Smith entered the political « ii;t,<v)i}icsting the Xew Plymouth seat the late Mr. CJias, Brown, cssiv Olivor Samuel and Tliomas •H\. both ol whom are now members the J louse. ][ c . Vi| . ; Tisucet'ssI, but V/a* second on the p< i I -ino bv l H voles. 11l 1887 Jic . r„ n '. ; ted the .-eat unsuccessful!;,. ,ii<- other being "Messrs. 3C. Dockrill ami Samuel. During (his election was ni the now familia.y.living ''That's a local bard framing ihese Ji>;es; 'Hoist the Libera] banner high, >n to victory grand. samucls' and Dockrills' crew* d«ify, And vole J'or Ironsand— That's me!

Poetry notwithstanding, iMr. Samuel .secured llic scat. The your 18UU sawMr. Smith uncc more, in (lie political hold, and liiis time ho was returned at i I In; head of (he poll J )v 28 votes, the , late Air. Jolm Kliot and Mrl!. (!. Hughe, . being In,-: JIo was again tlio chosen of fW electors in 18SJ3, defeating Hie late Colonel Trimble l.v over 500 vote*. In ltiitt, at the request of the diroclors of ( |, c - /j liu k o( j s ' ew inland, the subject of (his ari.de proceeded to Onehunga to test the value of 'J'nmnnlci ironsand, and once more demonstrated the possibility of reducing it to "pigs'' ol iron. The ironsand business attracted considerable attention at that, time, and 111 ISIIG a committee was formed in Now Plymouth, consisting of Messrs. A I!. Hlamlish, ]). Berry, W. 1). Webster,' and S. Hill, ( 0 raise funds to semi Mr SiiiKh home to Kuglaiid, there to inteivst enjiital in Uio developim-iit ol' the ironsand deposits. The matter'was not very largely supported by the local people. and the (loverijment could not make a granl, although several prominent 'rMo'n"' l St! "' l' :u ' l - v subscribed. About Ll-0 was subscribed, and the pioneer of the ironsand industry, armed with samples of Hie s;md and its products, and several other valuable natural resources of the province, went to England. Had the local people treated the project

more liberally, the iroiisaiul industry might have advanced to fruition. Whilst in iOngl'am.l Mr. ,Smith seemed to he get- ■ iig on well, and he cabled to Mr. Ward : now Sir -Josephl, who in IKIHi addressed iiis first meeting in New Plymouth, that success was assured. The. cablegram was read by Sir Joseph at hi; New Plymouth meeting, and caused* gieat excitement. Hut the representative of Ihe New Zealand promoters got into the wrong hands, and he returned to the colon', unsuccessl'iily, although ClTtl.oiio worth ol shares was applied for. During his stay in England lie had the honor of ad dressing Ihe Iron and Steel Institute. Returning to Xew Plymouth in the Rilnutaka, he again stood at the genera l election, and was defeated by Mr. 11. Jtrown, owing to the fact thai the Liberal vote was divided between himself and Mr. C. K. Bellringer. liut he regained the seal in 18!)!), defeating Air. Brown by 127 votes, and lie held it continuously against all comers from ISIW to the day of his death. Early in 1!!01 he accompanied Sir Alfred Cadman to England in connection with the dotation of a company to work the ironsand, and met with a certain amount of success, and lie 'relumed to t lie colony in 1:)02, expecting soon to hear ol' Ihe realisation of his hopes and ideals, liut. (he news never came. Owing to the untimely death of Sir Alfred Caiiman, Iresh arrangements had to be made, and this retarded developments. The promoters have not yet given up hope, and .Mr. .1. 11. wilheford. ex-M.I I.I!., is still in London on bu>inc:.s connected with the Xew Zealand iron industry. One of tlii l late .Mr. Smith's first achievements us a local politician was the securing of a Covcrnmcnf vote of £SOOO to bring the dredge- Progress from Timaru to dredge out tile Xew Plymouth harbor, and he was also successful ill having prison labor engaged in harbor construe'.' tion work at iMoturou. lie always look a remarkably keen interest in everything pertaining' lo the development of Taranaki, and was an enthusiast in the development of her natural resources, and the resources of the colony. For '2.3 years lie urged the Government to establish State ironworks, and, failing, tried to interest private capital, as the time was not ripe. His exhibits of the products of the iron : sand were shown in all parts of Ihe world, and earned many diplomas ami awards as the products of colonial material. lie might well be termed Ihe lather of the petroleum industry, lor it was on his representations that'the lirst bore at Moturoa was sunk about forty years ago.

.Mr Sinljih was a remarkably eurrgctio and physically strong man until a few years ayo, when lie met with a serious accident. Having jnst returned from liis Parliainentavy duties in Wellington, he wa.s (lie same night summoned to assist his son, llr T. I'. Smith, in repairing a damaged water main at Ileum. It was a very rough nigh];,, and Ills presence there -iniwrd what a man he was, always ready at a moment's notice to assist anyone who needed help. By a siip a cauldron of liijuid metal emptied itself over him, aud he was most severely burneil. The accident shattered his nerve system, and lie was never physically the same afterwards. About forty years ago he was one of tile founders ot the Foresters' Order in Taranaki. and was also associated with Masonry in the early days. Of almost indomitable courage, and unbounded energy, he was for many years a most useful citizen, and a valuable Parliamentarian to his constituency and to his party, and it is interesting to note that lie received his poitie.il training at the same school of thought in Birmingham as had the honor of instructing the late .John Ballance. To sum up, the late Mr K. M. Smtth devoted the greater part of his life to the advancement of Taranaki, in season' ami out of season advocating its claims to notice, llig life and lira means were all given in his attempt to establish the iron industry, and by his death Tara- ' naki loses one of those who have helped to make the piace what it is. He leaves a widow and ten children, with 23 grandchildren, to mourn his loss. Ilis sons are. Messrs W. .T. Smith, ,T. O. Smith (Registrar of Jtmhs, Deaths and Marriages at New Plymouth), Sam. Smitli (Auckland), T. P. Smith (borough water service supervisor), S. J. Smith (■Railway Department-), Leu. Smith (I'.nnds and Surveys Office) and 11. Smith (Railway Department); and his daughters, Mrs R. F. Waite, of Wangaiiui; Mrs W. Blair, of Midhirst; and Miss Daisy Smij.h, of New Plymouth. The body will be interred at Te Hcnui Cemetery on Momlav.