THE RAILWAY CATASTROPHE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue 5, 17 September 1880, Page 2

THE RAILWAY CATASTROPHE.

*, . The following is the verdict of the jury who inquired into the death of those killed by the overturning of the railway carriages on the ilimutaka:— The verdict of the jury is that after full consideration of the evidence brought before them, the deaths of Ida Pharezyn and Francis John Nicholas were purely accidental, and caused by the carriage being blown off the line down the embankment on the Kimutaka incline; and in the opinion of the jury no blame is at t ached to ' anyone. Rider 1. 'ihat, in the opinion of the jury, the Government should take immediate action by the construction of windsheds, or other protective means, to prevent so far as possible the recurrence of similar acciden.G on the dangerous parts of the incline, and that direct telegraph communication be at once established between the Summit and Kaitoke. 2. That the gravest censure be passed on the witness Quin for the statement he made without any corroborative evidence, that the driver and stoker were in possession of a bottle of brandy before the accident, that they were new hands, and that the carriages were not pr jperly coupled. Especially as the evidence shows that the driver and the stoker were perfectly sober, and ywtead of btfing new hands they had been engaged working the engines on the

incline for the list eighteen months, and that on the occurrenco of the accident the railway authorities and their employees rendered every as» sia'ance in their power, and the jury are of opinion, from the evidence adduced, that the management of the line is most efficient.