Inquest Reveals Details Of Blind Mans Death

Chronicle (Levin), 17 February 1949, Page 4

Inquest Reveals Details Of Blind Mans Death

The inquest into the death of Teaa Katene Abraham, aged 49, a smgle man of 'Waitotara, who died from injuries received when he was istruck by a tra'in, on a private crossing about a" mile south of i Manakau on December. 31, was held in Levin yesterday before the i coroner, Mr. W. A. Calwell. I Evi'dence was given by Athelburt .Francis Mafcher, a far.mer of Manakau, with whom deceased had been staying/that he had been e'ngaged in haymaking o_n the afternoon of the fataiity and" had seen Abranam making . his way to the railway crossing across the paddock. Although blind, Abraham had usu,aily manage'd to get about by himself. His ne'xt impression had been 'a reMiSation that at about 5 p.m. ,Vne Ne\j Plymouth-Wellington express which did not. usually stop, had come to a standstill about a ;mile north of the railway station. !He had gone to investigate and had found deceased lying beSi'de the ! track. j Wiiliam ' John Olsen, engine driver employed by the New Zealand Railways said that he had been driving the traih at abouk405(Pm.pii. on the day in qiiestion. When "about 50 yards from the crossing he had seen a man sitting on the rails as if on one of the sleepers. He had been waving a whi^e stick in the air above his • head. Witness said he .thought the man 'would have stood up and stepped back when he heard the train but he did not. He had given two warning blasts with his whistle but the train had struck the man on the side of the head. I Constable W. R. Gillespie gave evidehce of having gone to the ! accident and described what he saw. . Apparently, deceased crossed the jline but returned for- some reason, ;said Mr. Calwell. The verdict would be that Abraham had died from a compound fracture of the skull and laeeration of the brain caused through being struck by the train. "A railway train is a heavy thing

and it is quite impossible to pull it up in short notice," he commented. "There is no fault to find with the driver, Olsen, who did all in his power to avert the fataiity." The sympathy of. the court, and of the train driver, was extended to the relatives of deceased, who were represented by Ab'raham'§ sister, Miria Teatanga.