The Evening Mail. TUESDAY, JULY 2, 1878.

Oamaru Mail, Volume III, Issue 715, 2 July 1878, Page 2

The Evening Mail. TUESDAY, JULY 2, 1878.

Otr has very properly and pTOmin. ntlv *'. ■: •"• tl the attention of tl- • aothoritits > the very s-nsible rider <>: the jury in the case - f John Baif.d, w.y. so recently lost his life at Eldershe while performing what appears to have been a very «"-dinary and commonplace part of his dut;os as railway uuard. We have no desire ♦'» diminish ; - the least the force t>f its ' '■:— '- ••'"». nn & wo fervently hope tt.at they will receive the attention to which unquestionably they are entitled. And while, moreover, it is never an agrce- ; abie duty, and seldom ever a desirable ono, to go behind the evidence upon | which the verdicts of such juries are ! fonaded, we are bound to say that if our information is correct —and it is of such a nature as to admit of simple and expeditious investigation—the enquiry was either not sufficiently searching, or some of the witnesses, from inadvertence or some leas excusable cause, left an important circumstance in this most melancholy case entirely untold. It appeared to ua at the time as almost inexplicabl that a man so experienced a».l so temperate should have become entiMieM in the manner described in cons n ri of his wearing an ordinary top-co.w i'ne wheel which it is alleged caught the top-coat and involved the unfortnnate wearer in such peril is a small bogie wheel placed at the end of all such engines. The coat was of no unusual length, not such as to encumber the wearer so very much, in the performance of such a simple operation a3 uncoupling the engine, and even if it had become entangled would, we i>hofM ' ni-» thought, scarcely led to such . a., tr. r sequences. This hypothesis, t; tp - ./.is readily adopted by the c • ■<«« .'- and J UI 7» nence tHe rider up..>n wl : ch the leading article in our con-= ..po.-r»-y of yesterday is baßed. We venm -, not without careful deliberation, to Bonn extent to re-open the enquiry, perfectly conscious of the responsibility we assume, and we shall probably arri at conclusions somewhat different, foi> - •

upon the siipplemt-rt.i-y evident--- c we are prepared to adduce. Wt -<\ stated that th- bogie wheel placed ,\>. ■'■■■■ end of all suc!> «n: int-s is a 6inall one, and so situated as maiiifcst-y to cuii'titute a source of grent danger, no ina't r ■'-hat d-foi-.otion <»f coat may be won- y;. ilwiiy officials wluisedt ► • oi' : ' frequently tcoing info the iv 'i« "' ..f thi'Sf wh.o'.s. N-"*_. »■- ' thnt r <> *'b\i:-c , ': ,_ '•"' •;

I ' b -irisff,' tr«':i« '■'■■•'* "■ •'» - j . »Uv |>" c--il in Sn»' • <",gi<: »<ieeis r si -i tb-i* r » *■ '* • iact tho ensjine, in nnc • -pling winch the ].< :• fellow lost iiia iif.-. is the only one in iu\* nriirhborfio.*!—perhaps, indeed, the only on-- • m-lovd by the Government—in .(|, c flirt d.siriUe, if not imperative, ndjui ct i* vvuiiing. Baird, moreover, was «>i.ly rec utly removed from "Wainiat'j to this portion of the line, and being accustomed to bogie wheels perfectly guarded, may have unconsciously uncle: .stimatftl the peril arising from t!. ■■' cause. VYV s;»y advisedly, therefore, thai such an appliance in front of such bogie whef-la, if wi are not much misinformed as to the f -c.«, shonld be imperative, an ! the engine in question would therefor? appear to be specially dangerous, ai:d ought to be forthwith superseded. Furthermore it appears to us that the evidence favors the conclusion that the foot of John Baird, and not the coat, -was the first to become entangled with the wheel. Standing in front of this wheel with an ordinary top-coat, doesitnotappear inexplicable that the coat should be the first to get into such contact. In uncoupling the engine, the official does not necessarily—would not even naturally—so depress his person as to bring the coat thus down upon the rail, without which it could not have become entangled. Even if such an unlikely circumstance occurred, does it not appear improbable that anything more serious than tearing the garment would be the consequence ? In thia case, however, it is clear enough—whatever else, unfortunately, may be obscure in thi3 most melancholy case—that the foot, and thereafter the leg. became involved, the top-coat, incidentally rather than primarily, getting turn • hen the unfortunate man's powers of ;■ ».>.tanee were paralysed. In the evidaivje, moreover, it is clear enongh that when John Baird perished, the Government lost an official of great experience—a sober and most exemplary man, the husband- of'an-aifigi wife, and the father of four helple3s*l9fjfi dren, thus left dependent npon the Jflfl taneons and humane efibrta °f~&SK9| leacmes in the service and a public, ever ready to mitigate - .i-i.) ' ■•'< so far-as-ai. ntial aid can do ,ei..irge of snclrctaties • it John* Baird anolhelr - h-ch we venture :>r>ti, to us to be groiiit/v*, to refer to. that sobriety and ties a man for tho duties as fell to the A quick eye, sharp ca and activity are a those we are informed, misled, of hearing, and, the of O^^^^^^^^^^^^H generaj^^^^^^^^^^^^^H man impaired ve^^^^^^^^^^^^J other more si^^^^^^^^^^^H have been f°°^^^^^^^^^^^| Tin's, arising out this P^^^^^^^^^^^^^^l withstanding it esca^^^^^^^^^^^H Coroner jury, J^^^^^^^^^^^^^l faithfully t°mporary, vbod^^^^^^^^^^^^^l care(rda|^H^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| Her umQHHppnqfcftc. ITioßtole7itWe*er, responnblepoDaon in her WWrotW the asrTaate of the p.btt' dis-

charge should, in reover, become an ex- ] emplar to other employers of labor in the various ramifications of society. We have written in no captious or hypercritical mood. The subject is one which has painfully impressed us, in common with this entire community, cud our sole desire in discharging what appears to us to be a graw ; üb! ; c duty is to reduce to a minimm- 'ie 1' ability to accidents, which, wli- .• «'*--Ifiii and bnoi.ar-Iv 'i.ivn xhaustod : ,-ir itFirls mil t over, ncv -e----t.ieless be :i'-« -dated >vith the public service of t. country.