INQUEST

Hokitika Guardian, 17 June 1931, Page 2

INQUEST

vl y w* : The inquest into the circumstances l surrounding; the death of Joseph; , ■‘Kemp Burgess, bushman, aged 56, who .died on the morning of June 12, fol- • -lowing a train accident at Kamaka on .'.June 10 was concluded yesterday at D - Greymouth, before Mr W. Meldrum, . ?Coroner.

■> * Leslie James Hitchcock, railway . I fireman, stated that on the day of the accident he was fireman on the Ngato Greymouth train. Appronching Kamaka. witness Was keeping a lj t Hook-out on the right-hand side. Near

?■ * the railway crossing there was a '. Wooden fence enclosing the rear of the *”• liotel premises. He noticed a man £* „ running from the hotel towards the H- railway station, to reach which he had *to cross the line. ( The man carried an overcoat and wore a slouch hat, with the brim well turned down. Deceas£t> ‘ ed had not looked in the direction ol the train. As soon as witness saw the man he called out to his mate to f s stop, and the driver immediately api plied the brakes and stopped the train, i J The man had not ceased running, and S had run into the engine, which had % knocked him clear of the rails, As ’ soon as the train stopped, the driver | ran back and left witness in charge * of th© engine, The train was travelling at from 20 to 25 miles an hour, ' end it took 75 yards to pull it up. The jk* train whistle was sounded twice, If the ' ~ man had been looking in the direction fe '.; the train was coming, he would have ’■ seen it when he reached the corner

'?■ ■’■of the fence, which was only a few feet from the line,

Dr, Denis Armstrong, of the staff of the Grey Diver Hospital, said that Burgess was admitted to the Hospital on June 10, at 2,15 p.m., suffering from various injuries, including a broken ankle, broken ribs on the left side, a large bruise above the left hip, numerous cuts and abrasions about the face and skull, and severe shock. His general condition was very serious and his pulse was very weak. Burgess responded to treatment, but only to a slight extent, and if there was any hope at all for his ultimate recovery it was only slight. On the day lollowing

his admittance Burgess was very slightly improved, but early on Friday morning he gradually sank and died. Death, in witness’s opinion, was mainly due to the shock brought on by the injuries. There was some damage to his left lung, and that would help to hasten his death.

After hearing considerable evidence, the Coroner, Mr Meldrum pronounced the following verdict: —“That the deceased, Joseph Burgess, came to liis ''death at the Grey River Hospital; on "June 12, 1931, from shock, brought . about by injuries sustained by him at Kamaka on June 10, through being struck by the engine of a passing train in front of which he was attempting to cross the railway line to the Kamaka station. The evidence shows that everything possible, was done by the driver of the engine to avoid the accident,”