SAFE OR UNSAFE?

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1059, 23 February 1911, Page 5

SAFE OR UNSAFE?

OUR RAILWAYS. THE FINDING ONTHE TRAGEDY,

fPURE'MISADVENTURE," ' "OTHER-STOKES LIABLE TO FALL. ' The adjourned inquiry into the fatal train accident at Paekakariki on Monday : last, which resulted in the death of Miss. Alice-Power, of Greymouth, was continued " at the S.M. Court yesterday morning, be-' fore Dr. A. M*Arthur, S.M., coroner, and a jury, of which, Mr. Kichard Bidgedale was foreman. • Station-Sergeant Darby represented the police, Mr. J. J. Jl'Grath appeared for the relatives of the deceased, Mr. Andrew . Collins for the Tailoresses" Union, and : Mr. H. H. Ostler for the Kailway Department, : - - -

Not a Dangerous Section.' ' August Chas. Koch, relieving engineer in charge of the branch of the line concerned, mentioned in evidence that he had only, taken over the work on Mondav last. Ho had not previously had general e.M»nenc o 'of this part. of the' line. He K'V .scene of the accident, Th ~ t p j ep3rcd , a P'an of the locality. \ k ?e ? ded^ from a P° int 350 ft. limit S th ? u the rails ' an(l auout ,51jft.; away hori7xjntallv. Alt r « k must have rolled about fhn iin VI1 Tr u E ! 0I f ,Jcfor6 - it struck : . .V the. line. He had had experience of -r"lhrvs before, having teen in. charge of the Rimutaka section for five • OH™ pf®. had experience; on the .k° Central line. Sneaking as an- ex- 1 r fh» l:. t not . ?° ns i! ler that the portion f the line at-which the accident occurred was dangerous. The spot was. not con--utered to be dangerous by the Depart- O nient, although there was a portioi'of the ■ ■'■■■' mo beginning at a point 26 chains south • ot where the rock came down that was ~ considered dangerous. -At this spct.'.tho line was invariably inspected by a snr- ■ taccman before any train? passed., There (la" sbout 50 trains passing every • isr. Ostler: "Is the examination made before, every train?" v.;.--" Witness:, 'Yes, before every train, both: ■j a J* anf l night. ; This is done to" prevent ■ dangerous'stones remaining on the line. put the portion where .the accident oc-\ • curred has\no patrol, because- it -is notconsidered dangerous" ' x M'Grath: He had inspected-the ■ the top of the hill whence, the ' •boulder came, and did not think tha f it was particularly dangerous.- It was not * true that there, were : half-a; dozen largo" > - rocks at the top of the hill which might > ..bo, set in motion, at .the- least touch:' He ' would be surprised, to hear that there waa one large stone there which couldbe set Sr- m i 0 5 011 by'-a rabbit jumping on-to it. ' He did not know what steps had been. taken ,by the -Department' to- test th* safety of the spot. It was .the ganger's, < * 'duty to see to these things close to-the" line;,; '• ,' ; r. , ,:...:V\-v >.!>fr--.'M'Grath : J Oll propose to, have v: , the rocks at the top of the hill removed - at once.- ;- ' V '-y '.v.;-,'--.-- . : :V'Witness: "jSo.". \ i , Mr.-.MGrath: "I refer to the"loosa boulders." • : .', '•••" ■ '.. Witness ■ replied that, at present, he ' .did not propose ..doing 'so. : He ididrnot - ' know of any loose boulders. -'If,' oil mak- ■ : ing a closer examination, he-found any I !, 00 , se oo« ders, ho .would" deem -it his - ' duty to have them ' removed. ; .It was not unusual for the ganger to go'along ' ' .■with*a crowbar; and' dislodge any loose - pr.; Overhangmg : rocks, ,'which might, appoar to bo dangerous.' -Ho could.not'Sav.' .' however, that this had been actualfy : > done at the- point in question. The : country on the'Rimutaka line-was very; similar-to that' oh" the Jlanawatu u line. iEvery now and againvthe'gangersiithere went over thr-hills-and inspected ! the " • , Do 'yon still: consider V that, this portion of the lino should not be under, patrol?■>" ■ , _ Witness: ,Yes. I'm still of that opinion. • iSo amount of patrolling could have pre- ' I'f. f the: present <accideiit'v. rl- do .-not - 1 ' think that, the removal of. tlio mass of . rock at the top of the hill would make . the place any safer than it is at present: - • ." r - Ostler: All mountain- railwavs are. dangerous to some extent. - There "is • : no practical means of doing more than is done at . present for safety. If the stone had come from a quarter.;of a milshigher up the hill the result would hava " been .the same. 31r. 31'G'rath: "Supposing a concrete wa erected at the bottom of ths < hill,- would that keep, the line - clear * ox stones?" . ■ V, .* ■ :• -. ,; - ' Witness, was understood to sav that - a concrete wall would only have the effect of keeping the smaller stones back. A Regular Inspection Made. ; John Goidon, .Inspector of Permanent i yS i 1 0r the . Railway Department, stated .that he was responsible for the "■< portion of ' line 'from Wellington to . Paekakariki. _Tho portion of the lino where the accident had occurred was- in- ' spected about once a week. ; To ill-. M'Grath; He had not . inspected ' the exact spot where the stone descended- •>" before the accident, but had dtfhe so since. Having gone over 'the ground it did not strike him as extraordinary that no rocks had come down' in:that locality - dnring thc s last two years. :He had hail a good look round amongst the rock* at the top of the hill; and did not. think , that any of them were likely; to' come " away. He did not propose removing anv ' • - of them .or doing anything to the cliff-' - side. .The boulder that - caused ; the -acci- '- - dent had had a pretty good holding at • •••' the top of the hill. It was/sitting in a ■ looso , bottom, and about'a quarter or it - was wedged in He would be surprised to hear that there was one large ■ boulder which could bo moved with ono finger. If. if.iwas such as' counsel sug- '- ' ge«tcd he would certainly remove it. To Mr. Ostler: It would do no good to tinker with the rock with crowbars. It -- ; would 0n1y..-make things worse. -

The Ganger's Testimony. . :.i Samuel Foley, ganger on the Paekaka- : riki section where the accident occurred. said that lie had been on this section {or • 10 years. From his experience the pertiqn of the line,in question wo? not ennfjerous. No stones had come down Here during the last four or five years. He 1 had never known a big boulder " like the ■ r one in question descending at this j-l&re. ! He had been told that-an rart-iquake had occurred that morning, but h> n.ul not noticed earthquakes l-riiigiag rick 1 down before. ■It generally came djwu jii" 1 very dry weather. : • : , . To' Sir. M'Grath: Dry WMc'ier wis,- to - his mind, the cause of the fall. He know the whole of this country well; but had f not been over the point '-where M.e fcoul- ; ' der- came. from for some y:-irs. Jie had not seen anv; rocks which trbu!d be easily shifted. One or two looked dan-*;i gerous, but he could not-move them. Hp •. could not suggest any; means ' of keeping off tho :ine. A ct n- . crete wall would stop some -if .tl em. '' There' was. not, in his opinion, .inv danger at'the spot now and he nw.ild r.ot ; suggest removing any of the stono vat ' \ the top of the-nill. ' . V' To Sir. Ostler: This had' 1 een tiied . • on the Pakerua section, but without success. ; ;'"' . The Coroner's Oninion. •

' Dr. M'Arthur said that, as far a* he could see, this spot where the accident ■ occurred was not ft-dangerous spot, not-' by" any means as dangerous as other ' places which they :passed oil the 1 sam« line. At the samo time two blacks did • hot make up a white. lYom the : cvidenoe~' ■ given by the experts'it seemed to lain , that this was a thing that might not take place again for years. In his.opin- ■ ion it was pure misadventure, . M'Grath had been quite right' ill putting the questions which he did about pro-• " tective works, but in his (Dr. M'Arthur's) v opinion the cost of these works would basuch as to prevent all railway constvuc- ■■■■>" tion work.. - ... The Verdict.' -.The jury;returned a verdict that' the accident occurred through pure misadven-' ture. After having visited the spot the jury were of. opinion 'that other stones wero liable to como down f at'anv -time- - At; tho same time the} nere nnablo to .make any recommendation instoi-hoiv. the : : stones could best be kept from coming : dojet,.-