RAILWAY ACCIDENT.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 1251, 28 May 1914, Page 2

RAILWAY ACCIDENT.

NORTHERN EXPRESS COELIDES WITH GOODS TRAIN. THREE TRAVELLERS KILLED AND EIGHT INJURED. Auckland, May 27. A railway disaster happened to the Main Trunk express at Whangamarino, near Mercer, at 5 o’clock this morning. The express was running at full speed when it crashed into the goods train which left Auckland at midnight. Several carriages were telescoped. An eye-witness stated that he was sleeping in a berth when be was awakened by hearing a collision, “I sat up in my berth,” he said, “and a moment later was thrown to the ground. The car seemed to tip up and threw me several feet away. The side : of the car was entirely smashed. “Several men were lying on the floor, struggling under a mass of wreckage. Apparently the sleeping berths had tumbled down. The car was so strewn with wreckage that it was almost impossible to tell exactly what had happened. “I saw Peterson lying on the ground in great pain. Somebody came along and tried to restore him. He seemed to revive for a few moments, and then became unconscious. I don’t know whether he was dead then.

“Exactly how the accident happened it is Impossible to say, as most of us were asleep, and it came so suddenly.”

Another occupant of the sleeper, George Pace, said: “Our car was smashed completely in two. and the sides of the train, as well as sleeping berths, were all jumbled up. We were all thrown from one side of the car to the other. Some of those asleep in the berths were knocked to the ground and pinned under the wood.”

W. Hill was the first passenger to emerge from the wreck, by kicking his way through a window.

The rescue work was hampered by the darkness, and the fact that there was only one axe, but everybody lent a willing hand. Orton Stevens had a splinter through his brain, and death must have been instantaneous. Peterson, who was the last to be extricated, was wonderfully cheerful, although pinned by the upper part of his body. He was alive when got out, but about threequarters of an hour after the smash he suddenly expired. Several other passengers were severely injured.

There was some comment made at the scene upon the tact that it was three hours before help came from Mercer, seven miles away. All the passengers came on to Auckland by special train, which arrived at the platform shortly after half-past eleven.

THE LATE MR. ORTON STEVENS.

ONE OF WELLINGTON'S BEST-KNOWN CITIZENS. Wellington, May 27. Mr Orton Stevens, killed in the railway collision, was one of Wellington’s best-known citizens. He had been in the service of the National Mutual Life Association a great many years. He came from Australia about 15 years ago to assume the position of general manager for New Zealand, was formerly Mayor of Lower Hutt, chairman of the Hutt River Board, president of the Hutt Bowling Club, and, it is understood, was to be the Reform candidate for Hutt. He was a native of Australia, and was nearly 50 years of age. SAD HOME-COMING. Mr G. N. Grimstone, who wasi seriously injured, is registrar of the Tokerau Maori Land Board. He was formerly private secretary to Judge Palmer, and recently left for Wellington, intending to return with his wife and family. BANK INSPECTOR AMONG THE INJURED. Mr H. G. Mackay, of Melbourne, inspector of the Commercial Bank, who has been stationed in Wellington for the past six weeks, was one of those less seriously injured in the train smash. Mr Goldingham’s, of Palmerston North, injuries were not serious, mainly consisting of bruises.