STONE CRASHES INTO A TRAIN.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 957, 21 February 1911, Page 2

STONE CRASHES INTO A TRAIN.

NEAR PAEKAKARIKI QUARRY. YOUNG EADY KIEEED. Wellington, Feb. 20. A fatal accident occurred near Paekakariki to-day. As the North bound Napier express was running down the incline just south of the Paekakariki railway station, a big stone, said to weigh nearly half a ton, which had evidently been dislodged on the top ot the hill near the quarry, came crashing down the steep face, and struck one of the second-class carriages with tremendous force, killing a young lady passenger named Power, ot Greymouth. A male passenger was severely injured, also a lady and her child. Other passengers iu the carriage had a miraculous escape. The train was not stopped, but ran straight into Paekakariki (which is only a short distance trom the scene of the accident), where the victim of the accident was removed and the injured attended to. The accident caused considerable excitement among the lady passengers, several of them tainting under the strain.

The carriage was considerably knocked about and had to be taken off the train.

FURTHER DETAILS. Mrs Bird, o£ Manakau, sustained a cut on the forehead, and bruises on one arm, her daughter, aged live, had injuries on the legs and head, Mrs Sims, of Hataitai, Wellington, was bruised on both legs and Mrs S. N. Green, of Johusonville, was badly bruised on both legs and suffered from shock. The injuries were not serious enough to prevent the sufferers from going on to their destinations, though Mr Green determined to return home,,

The deceased must have been struck on the back, as there is very little disfigurement except a severe scalp wound on the left forehead due to her falling forward on the carriage floor. Miss Power was to have met one of her brothers (a Feilding resident) at Palmerston North, but he, instead of seeing his sister well and in the best of spirits, as she left Wellington for a holiday, received the sad message that the accident had happened, and that if he travelled down by the Auckland express, it would make a special stop at Paekakariki, to take the body to Wellington. Mr Power travelled by this train, and made arrangements for continuing the sad journey with his sister’s body on the Mapourika, which leaves to-night lor Greymouth, the home of her parents.

The accident did not occur where the steep cliffs along the railway would most suggest the possibility, but took place where the level land widens out, and the boulder-strewn hillside has a scant covering of grass and scrub. The place has not been regarded as in any way dangerous. Fire passed over the hillside a day or two ago, and early yesterday morning there was heavy rain. These circumstances, it is suggested by railway officials, probably account for the loosening of the boulder which caused the fatality. As there was absolutely no warning, the driver of the train could do nothing to avert the accident. An inquest will be held to-day before Dr. McArthur, S.M.

Miss Power was about twentyfour years of age, and a member of the Tailoresses’ Union, Greymouth. She worked at her calling in Wellington until Saturday last, when she left to take a holiday.