The Evening Mail. FRIDAY, MAY 26, 1876.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 30, 26 May 1876, Page 2

The Evening Mail. FRIDAY, MAY 26, 1876.

Wk stated tn our issue of Wednesday, when commenting on the verdict of the Coroner's J tin" returned at t!ie impiest in connection with the Waiareka accident, that we should again refer to the suggestions made by the Jury. We liave no desire to pain the feelings of the relatives of the two unfortunate victims of the accident, hut a seus„r of public duty compels us to athtflc to the matter, with a view to bringing the recommendation of the Jury under the nottre of the proper authorities. We know it is a painful thing to revert to tilts* lamentable accident, and those person* who have lost relations and friends near atvt dear to them will, we feel sure. forgive ha for once more commenting on this shocking occurrence. The first rider to the verdict is to the following effect: — "They (the Jury) desire to suggest the .great necessity for the establishment of a system of examination of engine-drivers, so »,* to ensure the employment of competent person*- for this work." This is a very valuable suggestion, and one which it is to hj,» hoped, will speedily be carried out. There h little doubt but that, at the present uiomout, we have numbers of en-gine-drivers engaged in this Colony who have httt the veriest superficial knowledge of m steam engine. The sum total of their information about a steam engine is contained in tlte knowledge of how to stop and start it. Now, this is not all that is necessary in the «lriving of a locomotive, and it is with an earnest desire that these men should be well versed in all the little details connected witli engine-driving, th.-t we so heartily endorse the suggestion thrown out by the Coroner's Jury. In our opinion, an engine-driver should be subjected to = just as severe an examination in his particular trade, as should the Captain of a ship. Both hold the lives of passengers itc their hands, and ignorance on their part may entail the most serious consequences. Vj would not be a very difficult matter to appoint examining hoards in all the large towns of the Colony, and then, when a candidate came forward, if he answered all the ojtesjions put to him satisfactorily, he should be supplied with a certificate indicating his competency as a driver. It should then be distinctly understood that no man catting himself a driver should be permitted to take charge of an engine—either locomotive or stationary—without he first produced his certificate to the person wishing to employ him. \\ e feel eertaiti that if this system, or one similar, were carried out, stich accidents as the one we chronicled the other day would be few and very far between. The Jury further suggested that a lock-up valve, free from the control of the driver, should be put upon all boilers, as a means of preventing the recurrence of such accidents.

Tliis, of course, is no new idea, for at Home now these bursting valves, as they are termed, are placed on all the portable engines which are constructed. The intention, of course, is obvious. It is well known that not one j man out of a hundred who drives a portable engine knows anything more about it than the stopping and starting, and therefore these safety valves are placed on-the boilers in such a way tliat they cannot be tampered with. The Manchester Boiler Insurance Company makes it a sine qua ,>„h that they will not insure any boilers unless a locked safety valve is fitted on them. And at the present time they even "o further and require that Allen's fusible plugs shall be inserted over the flues of all boilers insured by them. For the benefit of the uninitiated in these matters, we may state that these plugs are about two inches in diameter, and constructed of gun metal. In the top of the plug are seven quarter-inch holes, filled in with lead, so that when the top of the flues become redhot the lead melts out, and the steam in the boiler extinguishes the fires. Of course the Allsx plugs are only intended as a protective against low water in the boiler, and having nothing to do in preventing an over-pressure of steam. * We have alluded to these fusible plugs because it has not yet been proved that the boiler of the " Rover " did not burst through the water being low, in fact, we are rather inclined to think that this was one of the main causes of the accident, though we cannot ignore the primary cause, which I was no doubt the lasliing-down of the safety valve. We shall not comment further on this painful event, but conclude by fxprcssingahopcthattheJury'ssuggestions will be brought under the notice of the proper authorities.