The Feilding Star. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8,1887. Trespassing on Railways

Feilding Star, Volume IX, Issue 73, 8 December 1887, Page 2

The Feilding Star. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1887. Trespassing on Railways

« The authorities of th* Railway Department have given instructions to j platelayers, stationmasters, and other authorised officials to lay informations against all persons found walking on any part of railway line (not being a railway platform or crossing), and especially between the metals. As no previous warning of this intention had been given to the public, who have been in the habit or custom of using the railway line as a convenient footpath for the past ten or twelve years without let or hindrance, except for a brief period a few years ago, several of them have made themselves liable for pains and penalties under the Public Works Act and the Kailway Bye-laws. There is, naturally enough, a considerable amount of irritation, people feeling themselves aggrieved by the sudden enforcement of a regulation which had for so long been treated and looked upon as a dead letter. Of course " everybody" admits they have no right to walk on the line, but they claim if one is pun- j ished " the others" should have the same penalties inflicted without exceptions. People do not like to be alone in misfortune. The melancholy accident which occurred yesterday afternoon in Camden street, whereby' a fine young lad sustained injuries which may yet prove fatal, is a singular corollary on the action of the Department, which affords a strong argument in favor of keeping the line clear under all circumstances. In passing: we may point out the popular idea that the line may be used oh Sunday without risk is a mistaken one, as people are just as liable to be punished for trespassing on Sunday as on any other day.