A very sad accident occurred in Rushden on Saturday between 11 a.m. and mid-day, when Mr. Walter E. S. Pettitt, of Glassbrook-road, Rushden, until recently a boot-upper manufacturer, met with fatal injuries whilst motor-cycling to Northampton. Mr. Pettitt was riding up the hill from the “water running,” and was about to overtake a motor lorry belonging to the Wellingborough Transport Company. There was plenty of room to get by on the proper side, and Mr. Pettitt sounded his horn before trying to pass. Unfortunately the road was in a very bad state, deep ruts being frozen and the surface being slippery with the thaw which had just begun. Just as Mr. Pettitt got alongside the lorry the front wheel of the motor-cycle shot from under him and went under the lorry, which dragged both cycle and rider along several yards before the lorry driver (who had not known of Mr. Pettitt’s approach) could tell what had happened to stop his vehicle. When he did so, Mr. Pettitt seemed to have had a marvellous escape, as he was able to stand and even help himself on to the lorry, the driver immediately conveying Mr. Pettitt to his parents’ home on the Wellingborough-road. Dr. Davies was called, and as Mr. Pettitt did not complain of much pain, and no serious symptoms appeared, the doctor allowed the man to be conveyed to his home in Glassbrook-road. Later at night Mr. Pettitt developed serious signs of difficult breathing, and, in spite of all that doctor and friends could do, passed away at 1 a.m. on Sunday. Inquest Mr. J. T. Parker, coroner, held an inquest on Monday afternoon at the Oakley Arms touching the death of Mr. Pettitt. Mr. W. W. James attended to represent the Wellingborough Transport Co. Esrom Skinner Pettitt, shoe-hand, father of the deceased, identified the body as that of his son Walter Esrom Skinner Pettitt, aged 27, and said: I last saw him about 10.45 to 11 a.m. on Saturday, and he was all right at that time. He was going to see his sister at Creaton Sanatorium. I next saw him about 11.30 or 11.45, when he was brought home on a motor lorry. He said, “I don’t think there is much the matter with me.” The Coroner: Why did he not go to his home? Witness: I do not know, sir. Probably the impulse of the moment. He had a good home. Coroner: What time did he leave your house? Witness: About 5.30 p.m. He was then worse, and we got a litter and took him to his home. He did not tell me anything about the accident but he mentioned it to his mother. His motor-cycle was put on the lorry. He had once run the cycle with the side-car. Walter Leonard Tysoe, 54, Wellingborough-road, boot operative, said: About 11.15 I was walking along the Wellingborough-road towards Rushden. I saw a motor lorry going towards Wellingborough. It was travelling slowly as it was reaching the top of the hill. I saw a man on a motor-cycle coming up the hill, and he attempted to pass the lorry on the proper side. He was not going at anything like a fast speed. As he got half-way past the lorry the cycle skidded and the front wheel shot right underneath the lorry. The back wheel of the lorry caught the machine and dragged it along several yards, and then shot it out. The deceased was carried along with the motor-cycle, but when it stopped he was able to get out. I ran to him and asked if he was hurt. He said “No, I don’t think so.” He found that his right leg and right elbow were injured, as they were numbed. The driver of the motor-lorry stopped and turned the vehicle round to take the injured man back. He soon looked white, but was able to get out and walk to the front door of his father’s house. No blame attaches to the lorry driver. It was purely an accident. The road was frozen and had ruts that were just beginning to thaw. Although the deceased sounded his horn the driver could not possibly hear the sound. The Coroner: You did all you could for Mr. Pettitt, I am certain. Dr. Davies said: I saw deceased at his father’s house at 12.45p.m. I found three superficial injuries – just below the right elbow, below the right knee, and above the right ankle. The deceased was lying on the couch, quite conscious, and not complaining of any pain. I saw the ambulance man and approved of the deceased being removed. I saw him again at 10.45p.m. His lips were blue and both lungs were embarrassed with fluid. I turned him over and he coughed up frothy mucus and a little red fluid. I think the capillaries of the lungs had been injured by crushing or by a blow. I left about 1a.m. to make up some medicine, and the man died in my absence, about 4a.m. The injuries could have been caused by the fall or being struck by the vehicle. The lungs could be injured internally without a rib breaking or an external wound being caused. I should not have consented to his removal if the after-symptoms had shown themselves at my first visit. The Coroner: Would there not be a bruise if it had been a blow? Dr. Davies: There had not been time for a bruise to show. The Coroner found that the deceased met his death by an accident, and through the default of no one.