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THE RAILWAY ACCIDENT AT TOKOMAIRIRO.

At» little after seven o’clock yesterday morning, the usual train left the Milton station to convey the workmen to the different sections of the line in the direction of Balcintha, on which they are engaged; The train consisted of an engine drawing one large goods waggen and pushing two ordinary ballast waggons. The engine was running, as one might term it, back wards —that is to say, in the reverse position to which engines • run when there is a turn-table, by means of which they can be placed so a? always to work in the one position. On the engine was the driver, Weir M'Morrie, William Pettaway, a foreman of works, and Michael Monarty The large goods waggon had about thirty laboring men in it and it was an order on the line that in this waggon alone should the workmen travel, as the ballast waggons, sutft as those the engine was pushing, are very easily thrown off the line. Unfortunately, however, some of the younger men and boys are in the habit of travelling in the ballast waggons, and yesterday three of them had got into the foremost waggon, in order, as they said, to avoid the engine smoke, which, from the direction of the wind, came with full force upon the occupants of the goods waggon. The names of these three lods were Patrick Connor, John Lawless, and Thomas Gasserly. The train proceeded at the usual medium pace, rather less than fifteen miles an hour, perhaps, when, just at the point at which Mr Adam’s property joins that of Mr Cameron, there was a sudden concussion, and the ballast trucks were thereby thrown off the line, the foremost completely so; of the other, the hj nder only partly, and this being come against by the engine, the casing in front of that was completely dashed in, and the train violently stepped. The place where the accident happened was in a low cutting of a {? rmin g part- of a clear straight stretch of line on either side for some-miles, ihe men in the geods|waggon jumped out, aa also those on the engine, and it was found that of those on the ballast trucks, two, Casserly and Lawless, had been thrown quite clear of the foremost truck, which had turned right over and jammed Connor by the leg, a little above the ankle. On extracting him he was found to be insensible, and at first it was thought that he was only stunned, but a fearful wound was soon seen to have been indicted behind his right ear, and being laid on the embankment the poor lad gave a few gasping sobs and died. Jnet at this moment a second engine, which had started from Milton a little after the first, came up, and on it the body was taken back to town and laid in v ® eor g6 , s Hall at once offered by Mr Philp. From a careful examination of the scene of this unfortunate occurrence, the cause of the accident became at once apparent. At. the spot a, couple of gateways were in course of erection for communication between the paddocks lung on either aide of the line; The posts of that on the northern side had been put up, but the gate had not been properly hung. It had been laid up against the posts, and at one side of the top had been fastened to the post by means of a piece of fencing wire through the pintle forming part of the hinge; on the other side it had been merely held up by a piece of similar wire taken twice round the post, and then hooked with a very short end around a bar. The strong wind which blew all Sunday easily displaced the hooked wire, and then that end of the gate dropping free, the pintle in the other end soon disengaged, and the gate fell with some foot or so of it overlapping one of the raiis. On th’s the foremost ballast waggon was caught with a force sufficient to cut through a thick bar forming one end of the gate, and causing the fatal result described. So far as we can learn, with the exception of Mr Pettaway, the first warn ini/ any one had of the accident was the concussion caused by the accident itself. Mr Pettaway, an instant before its occurrence, gave a cry, threw up his arms, an I leaped from the engine, hub this was followed so instantaneously by '.he accident that it could have had no effect in warning anyone.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ESD18750323.2.11

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Evening Star, Issue 3769, 23 March 1875, Page 2

Word count
Tapeke kupu
770

THE RAILWAY ACCIDENT AT TOKOMAIRIRO. Evening Star, Issue 3769, 23 March 1875, Page 2

THE RAILWAY ACCIDENT AT TOKOMAIRIRO. Evening Star, Issue 3769, 23 March 1875, Page 2

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