THE LONGBURN INCIDENT.

Shannon News, 7 May 1929, Page 4

THE LONGBURN INCIDENT.

RAILWAY PORTER'S VIVID IMAGINATION.

CONFESSES THAT STORY OF ASSAULT IS UNTRUE

BUT ADHERES TO TALE OF ATTEMPTED TRAIN WRECK.

(Palmcrston Times.)

The township of Longburn and railway circles between Palmcrston North and Wellington, were mildly excited last Wednesday night when the news of an attempt to derail a train was passed from mouth to mouth and flashed over the wires between here and the capital city. This was followed by genuine amazement on Thursday night when a porter on duty at Longburn station reported that he had been attacked by two men as ho entered the signal box in the darkness. The "Times" gave publicity to the first incident, but refrained from printing an account of the Thursday night affair, because of certain information gathered the same night, which threw doubt upon the genuineness of the incident, as reported. That this action was justified has since been proved by events.

' It should be explained that the porter who alleged the assault, is also the officer who, on the previous evening when in the signal box, said he saw two men standing on the track an Field's express was approaching Longburn station. ■ He quitted the signal box hurriedly,-he said, to warn" them of their clanger and on their decamping at his approach j_ he perceived a sleeper and fish plates across the rails. He then stopped the on-coming train with his hand lamp, but not in time to prevent the slowing-up express from striking the obstruction. His story of the next evening's adventure was briefly as follows: As he entered the same signal box in the darkness to lower the signals sot against an approaching train, he was struck on the head. The hand lamp he was carrying was kicked from his hand, glass'panes in the box broken, and when he came to again, he found himself lying on the floor of the signal box. He was scarcely able to reach the signal box phone and communicate with the stationmnstcr who, on hurrying to the scene, found him in a distressed condition and bleeding from the nose. Further investigations revealed the broken hand lamp and panes of glass, and also the fact that one or two dummy Signal levers - had been half pulled off. That briefly was the story told by the porter and adhered to until about 10 o'clock next morning, when more mature thought convinced him that probably he had only fainted and that the incident of the previous night had preyed upon his mind. The porter has given the officials inquiring into the circumstances of the affair a written statement to this effect and denying that he was assaulted. As regards the incident of the sleeper and fish plates, he still adheres to his story, although the department officers are inclined to doubt it.

The engine driver of ''Fields" saw { the porter approaching but saw nothing : of the two men who were supposed to ! have passed over the cattle-stops in ' front of him, and Longburn residents who happened to be near the scene of the incident at the time saw nothing untoward. It is further alleged bj the department that the porter" would have had time to remove the sleeper from the line, and that it would be practically impossible to see persons standing where he was alleged to have seen them.