THE FATAL COACH ACCIDENT IN OTAGO.

Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 599, 28 December 1869, Page 2

THE FATAL COACH ACCIDENT IN OTAGO.

At the time of the upsetting of Cobb and Co.'s coach, in the Kakanui river, south of Oamaru, thero were in the coach Messrs Paterson, C.E. (Dunedin), Hudson, S. Newey, Laurenson (all of Oamaru), B. Newman, \ralker, Miss Boss (daughter of Mr Donald Ross, of Dunedin), and the driver; Messrs Paterson and Newman being on the box with the latter. The coach had entered the stream and had crossed to within a few yards of the north bank, where the river is deepest, when the driver was warned of his danger by Mr Wheatlej, of the Kakanui wool works. The driver was attempting to turn his horses, when the coach was lifted by the river and swept away. The driver, who stuck to the reins, was dragged ashore by the horses, which had been released from the coach by the ring-bolt coming out, and he immediately mounted and rode into the river to endeavor to rescue two of the passengers, who were clinging to the top of the coach, which had lodged on a shingle bank. His horse getting into deep water, he was washed off, and was with difficulty rescued. Three of the passengers swam ashore, and one of them, after landing, again jumped in to the rescue of another. Miss Ross was drowned. The two passengers who remained clinging to the back of the coach (Messrs Laurenson and AValker) were rescued by means of ropes thrown to them. Mr Paterson was the only passenger unaccounted for, and his body was found the same evening under the fore-part of the coach. The body of Miss Ross has since been recovered.

Mr Thomas Paterson, a member of the Institute of Civil Engineers, was the son of a Leith merchant, was born in 1532 or 1833, and was educated at the High School, Edinburgh. While still very young he was articled to Messrs Grainger and Miller, the leading men in Scotland in the railway branch of engineering. Later, when Messrs Grainger and Miller dis-

solved partnership, Mr Paterson remained with Mr Miller, aud eventually became managing assistant to Messrs Blyth, who succeeded to Mr Miller's business. In the year 1863 the Otago Government sent home for a railway engineer, offering an engagement for two years at a salary of £I,OOO, with expenses out and home again, and Mr Paterson was so highly recommended that he was offered the appointment without competition. He came out by the Suez route, and arrived in Otago, we believe, in 1863. He was first appointed road engineer and acted as such for the greater part of his engagement time, carrying many important aud extensive works to a satisfactory conclusion. Afterwards he surveyed and prepared Parliamentary plans for the Dunedin and Clutha railway, and reported on light railways from Dunedinn northwards. He was likewise engaged for the Southland Government, to supervise the completion of the Bluff and Invercargill railway, and prepared specifications for the re-construction of' the Oreti line. In Canterbury Mr Paterson made very able ad careful reports on the Lyttelton tunnel, and on the railway works generally. He reported on the Bakaia bridge, and selected a tender for its construction, which was accepted on his recommendation. And as his last work he had just completed plans and specifications for an iron bridge over the river Bangitata. The deceased gentleman was not married, and has no relatives in the colony.