THE CAVERSHAM TUNNEL ACCIDENT.

Evening Star, Issue 4083, 28 March 1876, Page 2

THE CAVERSHAM TUNNEL ACCIDENT.

at the Hospital at noontodny/hefbreHocken and a jury -of t#elte, of Wf*v.“ wm ch °B^ foreman, eta the bodyw tbe “to Constable Henry Vernon. . The Coroner explained that thv inquest was on the body of Constable Henry Vernon, of Green Island, who was Buppoaed_.to have been killed on Saturday night last in the Caversham tonne! by tee Clutea train knocking him down and going over him. There was not much evidence to lay before tee jury, and it was highly probable that*death was caused in tee manner be had indicated. However, so ad to-have every scrap of evidence brought before: teem, be odd Instructed Dr Tates to make a post mortem examination So as to ascertain tee extent of the injuries, and also td Mo whethbr deceased suffered from disease Of tee heaft. Inspector Mallard deposed t Thfl deceasedwas a ■ constable in the Otago rolled Force. He joined the service on tee 21st Jane, 1872, and was stationed at. Green Island. He would now be teirty-three years of age. Was a native of Scotland, married, had one child, and was a member of the Church of England. Witness last saw him alive from 0.80 to 0.45 o'clock on tee evening of Saturday last. He was teen on the Forbury race-course, and received instructions to return to his station. He teen appeared to be in his usual state of health, and was perfectly sober. He was a very temperate man—almost a total abstainer. He was. to patrol home if he could net catch the special train leaving Caversham about five minutes to seven. Deceased would hardlyhave had time to catch tee special train. He wag aware of the time it left Caversham, having returned to Green Island by the corresponding train the

previous day. Tlie CoronerDo you know .whether be -was in* the habit of going home through thetunnel P ■ Witness; He had gone through it, because he has told me so. He used to patrol the line to see if it was clear. ; It would be notrospass on a constable's ? part to be on the railway line. It wonld be the duty of the police to go through the tnnnel if they thought anything was wrong. - ' The Coroner: They arenot debarred from passing through it. , j ; Patrick Fletcher, bachelor of medicine, living at* Fairtield, Green Island, saw deceased walking' south towards Green-Island onSatorday nightrrHer was on the Main] road. . between Porter’s Hotel and MrPUlton'shouse, and appeared to be going to the' railway, etation.—By Commissioner. Weldon,; Witness had* known deceased for six weeks. •He was a ro-

gp^ctable -man, well disposed;towards the ihhabi-. *Th)mas Brinn, apprentice to ftesscsTßeid and ql.v, Doxtedin, was going through, the Caversham, tunnel for a walk with two Mends, about, eleven o'clock c* Sunday morning. They had a little dog with them, mm "ben nearly half way through the dpg began to Witness saw something of-a between it.and, .finding it was - »oft,marnatoh. It liie a bundle of HttiMmstenckanotber . match, and found it was lyingbetwoen the tails and the wall of the^V® l^® 1 ' Witten had been through the ** ier * ( ■r ~ • , T \ ': I '■'> !

no board warning them not to go through the tunnel, though further down the line a notice KM’ poatadwarning t.liam tint Ay. w., rft riffijg fJifrllm. : vie, stationed irt&yeMhaxn, depo»ed thatin oonie&utnoe of infonnatiraxeoeived, he accompanied Dr TBatohblor on Bundey\morning iutotheCaverabam’tonfiel. ThereSihyttmnddeceased's /body. The headwaslying in mi oblique direction towards the raUrimd atabout six innlinn from the rail. It waa one of the s’eeport. Sis left brow was s m fttiied fajhifumg hud legs were broken. The clothe* weire torn, and the oqat toned ;up.'' Wltnete'saw bite about half-pAst.t ix, when he appeared BHrightiml in hie u<ual state of health. ; > i ; John Sparrow, engine-driver, was ' driving the engine of the late Clntha train, ott* Saturday last. 1 hoy left Abbot tord, Green Island, aboutfi.36p.m., and passed through the .Caveriham tunnel about, 8»• He saw nothing, and was satisfied no one could have been standing in the tunnel without hl» seeing him. He did not think' there was sufficient rom for a man to stand blear of the tram.—By the Commissioner of Police; We had a good, bright light burning. lam confident no one standing in the tunnel, either before or at the side, oeuld have escaped my notice. The prior train to pass through -was aj»peoiaVat£,is,-froraikmedto: John C. Douglas,'clerk in.the Provincial Government employ, w4s a passenger by the late train from Balolutha on Saturday. ■ When r»a—W through the Gaversham tunnel the long carriage in which he was in-was thrown right , un.aud-other ’persons In the bight, as the shook was severe; and from the feelmg, he took it to be a soft substance the trai* had passed over, #- John Mathewson, Inspector of Permanent Ways, in accordance with' instructions, ' had' made an examination of the Gaversham' .tmfoeL'on Monday morning. -He found finger Aifiaxke on the wall, 1 as though someone had ' been groping hisway through. The marks continue® on for abont 120 yards, and apparently abont 20#ards from where the body Was found. IU two places were were marks- as though someone had supped down, leaving his finger marks down the wall, and also in another place the appearance of a an an having been standing with Ms back againhtrthe wail. Witness saw signs as though a wing hadhoen retracing his steps. In both places’where'there were packs of a fall a hole between the sleepers, through a deficiency of bhllastappewea - l»ve caused' a stumble. Witness bhd heard deceased remark that there was plenty of room for a man to stand steady when asmallengme was passing through, hut not With the urge Engines. There were small epatterii of blood and brain fully twenty yards round the body. Trespassing was a daily occurrence on the linn, though notices were posted forbiddlngTit. s jJJLJriSjv station-master, deposed Ithat deceased had told him how he could save himself dn the tunnel in the event of a train tanning thronsh Dr Yates gave evidence as totoeporf»»Mt«m examination he had made. Having d&Borltad'thn vajunss, witness stated that he attributed deceased a death to hia being struck on the hr the engine and thrown down, and.those to the lower extremities' inflicted afterwards probably' by <9the wheels. The injuries were too severe to udMtof caused by the hot ot a train must have inflicted them. of the Otago Hailways, said that an-Act had been passed last session making trespass' on the a punishable offence; and instraotions had ndw been nven to prosecute In all oases. He inspected the Clntha railway train yesterday morning, but found no ma&s.of blood on the engine. the carnages there were marks; one of them Was vefy much bespattered. The engine was a. great deal narrower than the carriage, andr witness was confident that it whs not ihe engine that struck deceased. 1 Even' with the broadest carriages there was room -for a man ,to stand clear of them; provided he' stood upright' at the side of the tnnnel-wall:, In the tmmm there were three man-holes or recesses, where Sue totod find shelter. These were oh the opposite side to the finger-maria described by Mr Matheson. ThSrehad been four deaths on the Otago railways-alFfftm trespass.’ By the Commissioner: I should be very flad to see a constable walking along the line daily, t would be a great help to ns,,andbe no trespass, iieceased had helped ru greatly bypatrollingihe This concluded the evidence, and , ‘ l . , Tb* Conmer said there, could be 'no doubt-that deo»sed had been killed by the injuries received in the tunnel That he could not have been in a jit when the train passed through the N tunnel was apparent from the fact mentioned by Mr.Conyera that the injuries were not inflicted by the engine but by the carriages behind it. If he Had had a fit- and ■ had fallen across the /line the engine must have passed over him. There wu no suspicion of fool-play, and nothing to induce the Jury to believe that deoeased'had oemmined suicide in the way-mentioned. '. * ' . s “ Accidental death*' was the vepediot returned. -