SERIOUS TRAMWAY ACCIDENT.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3066, 25 April 1881, Page 3

SERIOUS TRAMWAY ACCIDENT.

(BY TELEGBA.PH.) Dunedin, April 25,

An accident of an alarming character, resulting in the injury of twelve persons, one of whom is almost certain to die, occurred at half past 11 o'clock on Saturday night on the Roslyn tramway. Roslyn is a suburb situated on the hills above Dunedin. The tramway was started about four months ago. It is worked by an endless wire rope, to which carriages are attached by a gripper. The carriages are provided with a break supposed to be powerful enough to bring to a standstill whenever applied. On Saturday night the last car started up Rattray-street for Roslyn, and had proceeded some six hundred yards up the bill, the gradient of which is about 1 in 16, when something went wrong with the gear. The general statement is that the man iv charge of the break put it off instead of on, and before he could rectify his mistake the carriage commenced to run down hill, attaining such speed as it rusbed down the incline that all efforts to stop it by means of the break were futile. Three men, named Garret, Spiers, and Stewart, jumped off, but the rest were unable to get out of the car, which reached the terminus of the liae at a fearful rate of speed, broke through the heavy woodwork and three feet of metalled road, and turned over on its side. At one moment it appeared probable that it would dash across the footpath into the Crown Hotel. There was plenty of assistance at hand, and the car was soon righted. The injured men were then removed to the Shamrock Hotel. The following is a list of the persons injured:—Andrew Thomson (of Thomson, Strange and Co., drapers), cut and bruised ; John Strange, bruised and cut about the face; Wm. Stewart, or Stuart, bruised about the legs; Thomas Harvey, laborer, cut and bruised ; Rosamond Johnson, slightly bruised ; Wm. Peane , bruised and cut about the head ; Leckie, badly bruised, and for a long time insensible; Spears, Post-office cleik, bruised and cut and severely shaken; T. M'lntosb, bruised and shaken ; P. Hanna, very little hurt; J. Conway, bruised ; J. Garret, skull dreadfully fractured, and his case considered hopeless; Hislop, cut and bruised. The three men who jumped off fared worst. The car was greatly smashed about. The sufferers were at once attended to by Drs. Brown, Ferguson, Dezouche, Burrows, and M'Donald. All but Garret are doing well.

Later.

All the sufferers by the accident are progressing favorably. Garrett has partiully recovered consciousness, and the doctors think that there is a possibility of his recovery. It was reported over town last night that he had died, and in one church a funeral sermon was preached. Traffic was resumed to-day as usual.