DEATH OF MR E. M. SMITH, M.H.R.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8405, 20 April 1907, Page 5

DEATH OF MR E. M. SMITH, M.H.R.

RESULT OF A RAILWAY ACCIDENT. By Telegraph—Press Association. NEW PLYMOUTH, April 19. Mr Edward Metcalf Smith, M.H.R. forTarannki, died at the hospital, tonight, as the result of a railway accident, this morning. He had been in ill-health fur some time, but felt considerably better this morning, and was attending to some business. He boarded the 11 o'clock train at Eliott Street for the town. He was standing on the carriage platform as the train was rounding a curve. He was seen by a letter-carrier on the road to fall between the carriages, it is presumed during a fit of giddiness. Miraculously he fell between the rails and the wheels did not pass over him, but he received severe bruises, and a laceration of the head and face, being dragged some distance by the undergear. The accident was not noticed by anyone on the train. When picked up he was conscious, and the painful injuries were attended to on the spot. Subsequently he was removed to the hospital in a dazed state. A protracted operation was performed to relieve the concussion, but without effect, Mr Smith succumbing in the presence of his family shortly before 8 o'clock. Mr Smith represented New Plymouth from .1891 till 1896, and the Taranaki electorate from 1900 to the time of his death. The deceased was 68 years of age. He was one of the pioneers of Taranaki, and was one of the province's most enterprising spirits. With the efforts to develop the iron sand industry and petroleum he has been prominently connected for over 40 years; indeed, almost the whole of his life and fortune was dedicated to the former. With the removal of "Little E.M." New Plymouth loses its most familiar figure.