THE TOKO FATALITY.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVII, Issue 37, 14 June 1915, Page 5

THE TOKO FATALITY.

VISIT TO THE SCENE. Tlie Acting-Coroner and the Jury were this morning taken by special train to the scene of the recent fatality. ' ' . ' Mr P. O'Dea, of Hawera, acting on behalf of the driver locomotive and Mr H. E. Lawrence on behall of the relatives of deceased, and a representative of the "Stratford Evening Post" also went out. Sergeant Dale represented the Police, and Mr I'eattie, Station-master at Stratford, watched proceedings on behalf of the Railway Department;

It was observed, that the farm is cut in two by the railway route, and to get from one portion to the other a person would have to go through one gate, cross the line, and then go through a second gate. The distance from one gate to the other is 26 feet, there being 13 feet from each gate to the centre of the line. The distance from the spot where the two buckets were found standing to th« left side of the line is about nine and a-half feet. With regard to the gates, each has posts about six feet in height.

Standing in the cab of the engine on the fireman's side, a man standing near the gate with the gate ajar woulJ not lie seen until the engine was about fifty yards away from the gate, as the gate posts would obscure the view. A man standing on the line between the two gates could "e seen from the engine until the engii% had approached to within ten yards of the spot. Apparently, decea.sed was struck by the left side of the cowcatcher and was thrown on to the buffer of the engine and carried right to a point'near the first loop on the line at Toko yard, where the body fell off. A surfaceman who was near the bend of the railway just where the line enters Toko saw the body lying across the top of the engine's buffer. The left arm and leg were held up in the air, and the deceased was to all appearances alive before he fell off* After visiting the spot where the body was found, the party returned to town. I The adjourned inquest which was jto be continued at 10 o'clock to-mor-row morning, will now open at 9 o'clock.