INQUEST.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 938, 9 May 1883, Page 2

INQUEST.

An inquest was held to-day at Quill’s Hotel on the body of Samuel Chesson, who was killed yesterday on the railway, before the Coroner (Dr Trevor), and a jury, of whom Mr Tuckor was chosen foreman. Sergeant Felton conducted the enquiry; and Mr Dickenson, of the Christchurch Locomotive Derailment, was in attendance.

Before viewing the body, the Coroner said that he wished the jury also to examine the engine. The inquiry was not only to discover the cause of death, that was only too obvious, but to find out if possible the reason of the accident. In a case of this kind it.was important to determine whether there was any mismanagement on the part of the railway department, as everybody used the trains, and though the department was no doubt on the whole well managed, it was quite possible that a mistake might have been made.

The body having been yiewed, and careful examination of the engine and tender made, the following evidence was taken:— Benjamin Verdon deposed he was locomotive foreman at Timaru. Engine J 124 was at Timaru on Monday night and left there with the 7.30 a.m/ train yesterday for Ashburton. The engine had been inspected and cleaned on the previous night. No defects were reported to witness, as was the driver’s duty to do had anything been wrong. The engine was calculated to pull thirty vehicles, about 270 tons". Yesterday morning only 28 carriages were attached. The engine had been running for between two or three years. There is no systematic inspection of engines unless the driver reports. The draw bar pro-, duoed was inspected on 29th December last. Could not account for the breakage in any way. Had never known an accident of a similar kind having occurred. Did not think that a sudden jerk would break a bar of iron, although frost woifid render the material more brittle. There had been a very heavy frost at Timaru yesterday- when the train . started. Would say that a jerk in starting a heavy train might cause the draw-bar to snap or any other portion of the ironwork to be broken.

By the Coroner —Had examined the engine, "and considered the material and workmanship good. On examination he considered that frost and a sudden jerk would account for the accident. The links produced came out from Home with the engine, and the welding -was- bad, in his opinion, although the - material was good. By Sergeant Felton—The train could net be started without any jerk, however careful the driver was, although the jar can be greatly lessened. A good driver would start the train with only a moderate jerk, and instructions were given in this direction in, the by-laws, which specially referred to the possibility of such an a xident as that under inquiry, and enjoining precautions. By the jury—Thera was no -shed accommodation at Timaru for engines, which at present are kept in the open. This affected the waggons; and would make them run heavily on the line. No Government inspection of the engines was made periodically. The bar produced had not been welded, but had been shortened by “ jumping,” which did not weaken the bar in any way. Considered the quality of the iron sufficiently good to beat the strain put upon it. Could not say if the draw-bar was made at Home, but was of opinion that it was made in the colony; The links produced are supposed to hold the train if the draw bar breaks. Was of opinion that if they had been properly welded they would have held a train drawing 270 tons. Witness thought that the welding was bad. By the Coroner—The train had on board at the : time of the accident 270 tons.

By Mr Dickenson —The links could not hold the train after the draw-bar breaks in case of a sudden jerk. By the Coroner—All the links attached to'the engines on the New Zealand railways are of the pattern of those produced. Saw no reason why links should not be made strong enough to hold a train under any circumstances. By a juror—The draw-bar could not break without producing a sudden jerk, and this jerk would bo sufficient to rupture the links. Considered that the links should bo made stronger to be any practical safeguard. Had they been properly welded the links would not have been strong enough to withstand the jerk. Ivan Cunningham Graham, stockowner, residing at Timaru, said that yesterday at ten minutes past seven he left his house to catch the train, There was at that time but a very slight frost, if any, as ho noticed no frozen water in the paddles. The train proceeded steadily till going down the viaduct,, when it considerably accelerated its speed, to a pace which witness thought dangerous. Nothing otherwise unusual happened till ihe train reached Ealing station. At that place, in starting, the tram was jerked forward very violently. Remarked to a fellow passenger, “ See how quickly we are getting into motion after that jerk.” The bridge being under repair, started from the Hinds station at a moderate rate. When about a mile on this side of Hinds river, the train gradually came to a standstill, and presently the guard ran up to the engine to see what had occurred. Heard the driver say to the guard that the engine had parted from the tender, and witness immediately shouted out to the guard, “This come from your jerking.’’ Then walked to engine, accompanied by another passenger, and noticed that there was only one man there. Shortly after, the engine was backed nearly to the Hinds river, and he then saw the body of the deceased being carried to the luggage van. The train returned to the Hinds station, when witness informed the station-master that he had a complaint to lodge. The answer was that the complaint could not be received, as witness had left the Hinds station and come back. He then counted the number of carriages, and found tfyey numbered twenty-five, of which about ten were truck? l?den with sheep. By Sergeant Felton—Was used to travel on the train about once a week. The jerk at Ealing was of a kind that witness experienced about once every two months, and was sufficiently violent to throw down any person standing. Had discontinued

travelling by the night train on account of the prevalence of these jerks. Seven! other passengers had remarked the jerk. Did not notice any jerk after passing the Hinds station.

By Mr Dickenson —Considered that the train came down the viaduct north of Timaru at between fifteen and twenty miles an hour.

George Bowles deposed that he was the driver of the engine ~ J 124 yesterday morning. The deceased was fireman. Left Timaru atT7.3O a.m., ond nothiug . unusual occurred till about a mile and a quarter past the Hinds railway station, when the draw-bar of the engine gave,way. The sudden jerk on the links caused them to part. Considered that had it not been for the heavy frost the links would have held after the bar bad parted. The deceased was in the act of firing at the time of the accident—having one foot on the engine and the other on the tender. The engine shot away from the tender, causing the deceased to fall backwards. Did what he could to bring the train to a standstill without causing a concussion. Under the guard’s instructions the train was pat back to the Hinds. Assisted to remote the body from the line about ten minutes after the accident. Deceased was then quite dead. Did hot remember any sudden jerk on starting from Ealing station. By the Coroner—lt was within witness’s experience that the' draw-bar pin had been broken, and the links had sufficed to hold the train. Had never previously known the drawbar to givo way altogether. Examined the engine before starting and everything appeared right, Donald Macfarlane, guard, said that he wad in charge of the 7.30 north- ; train from Timaru, which on leaving Orari consisted of 26 vehicles. Did not experience any unusual jerk on starting from Ealing. When a mile add a quarter north of the Hinds the train came; to a standstill. At this pojpt witnesa felt a slight jerk, and at a signal from the enginedriver applied the brakes. PDid , not remember what Mr Graham had said, .’hut he heard some remark of the exact purport of which witness was ignorant. There' was frost at Ashburton when the :srst train left, and the carriages were-white on starting from Orari. The Coroner said that he though there were] too many jerks on the railway, there was no evidence that this accident was due to any special jerk. A very grave question, however, was whether sufficient attention was paid in. the construction of the engines. The’ evidence of the .first witness was that the links were not strong enough, and he thought that the jury might take notice of this. He thought that the attention of the Government might be called to this matter. It certainly seemed that everybody travelling on the railways had .-been running very great risk, on account of the weakness of these links. The jury were quite at liberty to append a rider ts, their verdict, and no doubt the Government would give it consideration., This was not a special case, as it was certain that all the engines were in the same state, and had the llaks been properly, made ,thia poor man’s life would not have heexLJtcri- ’ fused. 1 At the request of a juror, one of the jury was allowed to give expert evidence, and Charles Beid, blacksmith, was accordingly sworn. He said that he had ex--1 amined a portion of the draw-bar Ipro--1 duced, and considered that the iron is not of the best quality, judging;from the 1 grain. The workmanship of the links was 1 very inferior, and ho doubted if they 1 were strong enough to withstand even eto ry little strain. Could not speak with : her--1 tainty of the quality of the material. I Thought that the links would be useless if 1 the draw bar broke unless the train were very light. 1 The jury then retired, and on returning the foreman said that they had come to the conclusion that the deceased had met 1 his death through accident. They de« sired, however, to add the following ■ rider :—“ That there is evidence of want of proper supervision over’ the material ’ and workmanship used on the Now Zealand locomotives, as shown by the coup--1 lings on engine J 124.” ; # 1 The Coroner said he would take action in the matter, and that the broken couplings would be forwarded to - headquarters.