ACCIDENTS AND FATALITIES.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIII, Issue 9094, 13 March 1908, Page 4

ACCIDENTS AND FATALITIES.

Per Press Association. Nelson, March 13, After five sittings, • the inquest touching ! the death of Mrs Lydia Tibury (the victim of the coach and train collision at Appleby' on February Ist) was concluded to-day, when the coachdriver (Charles Brickland) was examined. He said he had been driving the Nelson-Mo tueka coach since April last, and on February Ist he was returning to Nelson,, via Redwoods Valley, reaching the scene of the accident at 13 noon. He did not hear the engine whistle, and did not see the train until the coach was on the railway line. He had no time to do anything to avert the accident, and had not a clear recollection of what occurred. He was not aware that a special train was running on that dav. The coach and harness were in good order, and the horses; wore quiet. Had he seen the train: he could have pulled up in a couple-, of yards. He did not remember Miss Fittall (the passenger on the box) calling his attention to the approach of the train. He was exercising ordinary care on that day, but he admitted that had he looked to the right the train would have been visible for some distance up the line. He had no explanation to offer as to how the accident occurred. He had previously met with an accident on the same coach, when the horses shied and witness and the box “ passengers had been thrown off. That mishap was not of a serious nature. Counsel addressed the jury, and the Coroner summed up at considerable length. After half-an-hour’s retirement the jury found that deceased 'met. her death in a collision between the coach and a train at Appleby crossing on February Ist, the accident being caused by the negligence of Charles Brickland (the coach driver). A rider was added to the effect that; no blame was attachable to the, railway officials. Dunedin,- March 12.

James Brady, timekeeper at the new dock works, was last night found lying unconscious alongside; the railway line between Port Ohalm* ers and Sawyer’s Bay. It is surmised that he was walking along the line,, and was struck by a passing train, tie was taken to the hospital, where he is still unconscious, suffering from' a fractured skull. He is a married man with four children. Hawera, March 13. Whilst attempting to take mud from the muzzle of a gun yesterday a cartridge exploded and Lewis Frost’s left hand was practically shot away and had to be amputated. Frost is a well-known agent of the A.M.P. Society. Wellington, March 13. ; In a bedroom at the Duke ofEdinburgh Hotel a man named Saunders was found this morning with his throat cut. Tho injuries are not likely to prove fatal., Saunders recently came from Sydney where he has a wife and two children.