Killed At A Crossing1.

Huntly Press and District Gazette, Volume 2, Issue 42, 27 June 1913, Page 2

Killed At A Crossing 1 .

FATALITY IN HUNTLY. The level crossing leading | from tho Great South Road to Hakanoa Street, Huntly, was the scene of a fatal accident about one o’clock Inst Saturday afternoon, whereby John Hurst, a miner employed by the Taupiri Mines Company, lost his life. It appears that deceased after leaving a friend to whom he had been speaking, proceeded homeward by way of the crossing. In some inexplicable way he failed to observe the approach of the southward bound Rotorua express. On being struck by the engine he tell in front of the cowcatcher, tho body being tlJßwn on to the connecting rod, and carried onward and across tho cattle stop before the locomotive was brought to a standstill. Fne head was badly bruised, the rih- crush? 1, and the foot, over which a wheel must have passed, almost severed from the ankle. I he accident was witnessed by Mr Gavin Miller, who saw the engine strike deceased, the whole thing taking place so j quickly that he could not give a warning cry. This crossing is j a - safe as a level crossing can be. The foot passenger has an | unobstructed view for at lei -1 j half a mile on both si Us, so th iL j unless the sight or hearing of tii * j sdwa i ffe :te tim can be assigned for tii.* 1 fatality. Hurst was a comparatively j :vc *nt arrival in the Dominion. ! \Vit'i his > m and daughter and son-in-law he arrived in Huntly ! in January last, leaving behind ! him in Lancashire a wife and four members of his family. He wa a ouiet, unassuming min j of very sober habits. The accident occurred near the resid a o of Dr. Low, who, | though lie was immediately on the sp >t, could only pronounce life extinct. The body was taken to the liousi of deceased’s d lughtor, Mrs Aspinall. INQUEST. On Monday afternoon an inqne -t on the body of John Hurst was held in the Court House before Mr E. J. Farrell J.P.. acting coroner, and a jury onlisting of Messrs James Elliot (foreman) T. Brownlie. A. G. Fras t, G. A. Jam U. Starr, and Jno. Watt. Mr Foweraker appeared for tho railway department. J un .'s Hurst, miner, identified the body lying in the bouse of Go urge A-pinall, Hakanoa Street, that of his father John Hurst whom ho saw last on Saturday about 12.40, p.m. a few minutes pri >r to the occurrence of the accident. He was in good health and spirits, and left witness for the purpose of going to dinner at the residence of

• his son-in-law. Deceased was j possessed of good hearing and J eyesight, and was perfectly sober. He was not subject to fits. ; a id was a m >st abstemious man. William Yates, miner, passed : the time of day with deceased as lie went by. He appeared to he healthy, in good spirts, and [-perfectly sober, but was walking ' | with his head down as he generally did. He did not witness the | accident, but when the train i stopped he went over to the rail- | way line where he saw deceased lying acr-■-s the metal, apparent- ! ly dead. William Edward Donald, I engine-driver on tlie Rotorua •exprc s, on approaching the crossing at Hakanoa Street saw j that everything was clear. The whistle had been sounded when t he train was within about 200 j or 300 yards of the crossing. He | saw no one get in front of the i ,-ngine and did not know that an | accident had occurred until the ' fireman drew his attention as he | was in the act of shutting off the Team. When the fireman told him that the accident had | occurred li9 immediately applied i the brakes. The train would be | going at a speed of j about 30 miles an hour. | The time to shut off steam I depended upon the gradient, and ,| was left to tho discretion of the driver. Leslie Farrell, fireman on the Rotorua express, deposed that usual about 300 yards north of the crossing. The engine was doing about 30 miles an hour. As the train went over tho crossing, witness noticed a man thrown from the front of the engine on to tho r > Is. He at once toi l the driver that a man had been ki'led. He did not see anyone try t) cross the line. The driver immediately brought Lie train to a standstill. The crossing was not a dangerous one, like those at Glasgow street and Raynor’s R >n !. Gavin Miller, miner, who lived directly opp i-utc the crossing, w itched the R Uorua express pass, but did n )t see deceased until tho train struck him. He appeared to be between the rails, and S'emelto have been lifted slightly upwards, and then disappeared, lie could not tell ; whether the whistle was s mtided j or not. Dr. Low dep v ■ 1 that he was ; o.i tho seen ■ ab >ut a minute after | the train pulled up opposite his residence. Ho ha 1 boon informed that a man ha l fallen off the train. Ho found deceased lying on the east side of the line. He was then quite dead. An exam in itio.i disclosed a com pound fracture of the right ankle, the fracture of several ribs on the right s' ie, and two scalp wounds. The injuries were sufficient to Ciuse den'll and had b en il l cted i no doubt by the impact with the train. He had previous knowledge ol deceased who had j

attended at his consulting room. I hough somewhat slow-witted, ne was otherwise norm il. He usually wont about with his head down. Witness heard the whistle I founded as the train ap-)-*3ac’i3d the crossing. Without retiring thi jury brought in the following verdict ; " That deceased was accidently killed by the Rotorua express, and that no blame was attachable to anyone.” There was added a rider to the effect that at the level crossings at Raynor’s roid and Glasgow street were highly dangerous, the Railway Department be called upon to take such precaution as would tea l to safeguard foot passengers using the crassings from death or injury.