Second Edition. “PURE MISADVENTURE.”

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVII, Issue 38, 15 June 1915, Page 6

Second Edition. “PURE MISADVENTURE.”

THE TOKO FATALITY.

The adjourned inquest on the death of Thomas Inglis was further heard at 9 o’clock this morning, before Mr S. Ward (Acting Coroner), Mr P. O’Dea appeared for the driver of the locomotive (Percy Thomas), Mr H. E. Lawrence represented the relatives of deceased). Mr Brown, the Locomotive Foreman, represented the Department, with Mr Peattje, the local stationmaster.

John _ Ingljs, son' of deceased, said that on 9th June h.e I'pse between 6..‘10 and 7 a.m./. /His father and mother were up, and his father spoke to him j about the milkings He seemed in his usual state of health. His father, -who was in Stratford the day before, Returning home about' nine o’clock, had not been drinking to any excess. After his father spoke to him he went through the two railway gates to the paddock where the cows were, and brought the cows in, and his brother and witness went on milking. His father usually fed the pigs and went to the factory- He did not see his father alive again after he left him in the house. While they were milking he heard a train passing. The shed was ■about 50 yards from the railway, and about 140 yards from the railway gates. When he finished milking, ho ivas putting the cows out, when a Mr ' Johnson, a ganger on the line, came up the line and told him that his father had gone -down in front of the engine. He then went down , the line with Mr Johnson, about three-quarters of a mile, where they met the other surfaceman. He heard then that his father had been killed. He did not see the body ,as hq .was ; advised not to. He returned to the farm along the line. About a quarter of a mile from the gate he saw' marks that seemed "to show that something had been dragged along the line. ' When he got to the gates both-were closed. Before going down the line he saw two buckets standing alongside the line nearest/the gate leading to the cowyard. The buckets, on his-return,,had been removed inside the gates. He did not know who removed the buckets. His father’s health was generally good, his eyesight jvas good,.but his hearing was jibt good. He could hear if one spoke loudly and was clovse to him. He had byen two or three years on th/ farm. Witness,: had, never heard his father Comp! ain of the railway workings at all. He never complained of the work he. usually did on the farm, as the pigs were' rather a hobby of his father’s. .When lie went on the line from the cowyard before meeting Johnson, he did not notice whether the gates were open or closed. To Mr lawVence ? His father did. not appear the worse for liquor on the night before the accident. The ballast was not-much disturbed. To the best of his knowledge his father could always hear the train whistle. The speed of tho train seemed to him to be slower than* usual. It .travelled at a speed of about 20 miles per hour. He did not hear any whistles. The Mountain ballast trains never whistled at the crossing to his knowledge. The ballast train that worked the pit near his home used to whistle on misty mornings. As far as he knew the trains did not usually whistle. Mr O’Dea pointed out that the pit train that did whistle was a Public Works train.

Thomas Henry Geraglity, Inspector of Permanent Way, stationed *at Stratford, gave evidence as to distances and levels from Stratford to Toko points. The distance from where the body was struck to where it was found was one mile 67i chains. He had no control over engine drivers*, his instructions being given only to the guard.

To Mr O'Dca.—He considered that from his experience Driver Thomas was an extraordinarily careful and capable man. He had worked for his Department for some time. Thomas was an exception to the rule in whistling at sharp turns, always giving a good long whistle at turns and crossings.

To,,Mr .Lawrence.—A clear view of the,gates was obtainable from approximately half a mile from up the line. Arthur Inglis, another son of deceased, corroborated his brother’s evidence, except that he did not see his father;, at all that morning. x Henry Johnson, railway ganger, stationed at Stratford, said lie traversed the line on the morning of the accident', starting from Stratford to a distance of about 5 V miles from Toko. He examined the gates at all crossings and found that both gates near luglis’ farm were closed when he went down at 7.55 to 8 o’clock. There were two buckets on the right hand side ol the line standing near, the gate leading to the cowshed, ft was not an unusual thing to see a bucket standing,there. He saw nobody about the gates as he went past. The luickets were full of pig feed. He went down to his gang and was informed, by Surfaceman Kiley that a man had gone down on the cowcatcher' in front of the engine. He said to his gang : “It is the old man Inglls.” Kiley replied: “I took it to be him.” His reason for coming to the conclusion that it was Inglis was

that he suspected he would come to that end, because lie was twice pre-

viously convicted for obstructing Hie railway. He had himself to stop his velocipede on more than one occasion to prevent a collision with Jnglis, whom he often noticed was very hard of hearing ami very careless in crossing railway lines. Deceased never complained to him about the gates. To-Mr O’.Dea,—He told the hoys of the acident. Mr Thus. Jnglis told him at Toko after the accident that they had expected an accident of this kind for some time.

To Mr Lawrence.—He had been four years on the line. He never had anything in tile nature of a row with the deceased.

To the Foreman.—He had had to speak to deceased about not taking precautions when approaching crossings. He had known the deceased to cross the line at unauthorised places. To the Coroner. —He would say that deceased was exceedingly hard vof hearing.

Charles Riley, railway surfaceman, residing at Toko, said he examined the railway yard at. Toko and then went to his work. As the train passed him, he saw the deceased hanging across the buffer of the engine. The roll of the engine may have caused the arm to he in the air. When he saw the man on the front of the train, he endeavoured to signal the fireman, but hi*s arms -were, hampered by a bucket on the left arm and a billy of water in the right hand. This prevented him from giving a-,dear signal. Ho did not cal! out. After the train passed, he reported the matter to Ganger Johnson, and then went on with his work. He could not see the fireman and driver on account of steam. < •

To Mr Lawrence;—All he could see of the face was .the front of deceased’s beard. He was standing on the line on the fireman’s side. From the position of the body he should say that the deceased- was standing on the fireman’s side. To Mr O’Dea.—The train was on the curve wlien it passed him at the ordinary pace. William George Godfrey, fireman, who had been in the service for over four years, and a fireman for two years, said he had,been on the Toko line for about eight months’. He was fireman with Thomas for about eight months and was with him on the morning of the accident. He started with his train from Stratford at about half-past seven. The train consisting of the engine and van came from Hawera to Stratford, and on the way a lubricating glass broke. The train : stayed in Stratford to take water and they were engaged altogether about 10 minutes. There was not time to put in a new glass. He knew deceased’s farm. When the engine driver was engaged, he was not hound by haid-and-fast rule, but his instructions were to keep a good lookout when not otherwise engaged; When the driver was putting in a new glass, he was on the look-out. Hi’s look-out was not [i continuous because he was engaged • from time to time firing and looking at the gauge to see that sufficient steam was up. .Near the gate at Inglis’ farm he noticed a little bump as if the- enginfi had gone over some stone which often occurred at crossings. When’ he felt it the driver said “What was that?” They both looked back. Witness saw a dog crossing the line, which seemed to be limping. The driver said that there were two buckets on his (the driver's side). The driver then went on with the tepau.'iig of the glass. He had no trouble with the engine on' the morning of the accident. The weather was'misty, but one could see a good length ahead ot the engine. To Mr O’Dea. —A fireman on the engine has many things to attend to. He had a look-out at about a quarter of a mile from the gate. When ho saw the dog he thought that the dog 'had been hit.

To Mr Lawrence.—The Department supplied the engines with lengths of glass about one foot in length. He could occasionally have a look-out. Ho did not know Inglis. He had a clear view of the crossing from where he last looked out. To the Police.—lt was an understood thing between the driver and the tireman that the fireman should keep a good look out when the driver was engaged. James Cameron, Railway Guard, said he was in charge ot the train on the morning of the accident. He had no duties regarding keeping a look-out. While the train was travelling from Stratford to Hniroa no was reading the paper. From his seat in the van he could see the engine . ihe first stop was at Hniroa, 16 miles from Stratford, which was reached at 8.45 a.m. when he first learned of the accident.

To Mr O’Dea.—He had spoken to Tom Inglis about the accident at Toko, and when ho expressed his sympathy, Tom said: “It’s just what we have been expecting.” Inglis said his father was • stone deaf, it took the train one hour and ten minutes to travel the sixteen miles to Hniroa. To Mr Lawrence. —The train could he pulled up within about a length of the train, the brakes being in good order. To the Foreman'—‘He felt no shock. To the Coroner.—-From his window in the van he could not see past the engine. He had to report on the weather which he did as “misty.” John Charles Batt, engine dr’ver, employed on the Whangamomoiia run, said he knew deceased, and bad had trouble with him. it would take a considerable time to fix a broken lubricator glass properly. .From Stratford to Toko was the best place to put m the new glass. To Mr Lawrence.—Drivers were ’n the habit of looking out occasionally when engaged in doing anything to the engine. They do it almost without knowing it.

Parry Hdwin Thomas, the engine driver, said lie was now in his fourteenth years’ service as an engine driver. He had driven on the Toko lino for about thirteen months. When lie started to repair the glass he was about one and a-haif miles from Stratford. He was in the act of screwing up the last gland when the engine passed over some ballast on the rad. His experience would tell him that it was ballast. He looked out and saw two buckets opposite the first wagon.

Ho asked his fireman il lie saw anything, and the fireman replied that he saw a dog. He crossed over to tho j fireman’s side and saw a dog behind hopping about on three logs. He saw nothing in front. As he had otten seen buckets on various occasions near

the gateway he (.lid not take particular I notice of attach any importance to the ' buckets being there. He concluded that the dog was sniffing around the

buckets and had been hit. On entering Toko yards he saw Surfaceman Riley about 200 yards in front of him walking towards the train on the fireman’s side. Riley did not indicate to him either by look or by sign that anything was wrong. He then went right on to Huiroa, where witness went to oil parts of the engine. While oiling, he discovered pieces of clothing on the cylinder cocks on the fireman’s side. He made a further examination and found animal matter, presumably T,rains on and about the front of the cowcatcher, particularly on the fireman’s side. He then consulted the guard, and they returned to Toko, where he was informed that the train had killed a man. The body was then lying in the yard.

To a Juryman. —He had never seen Tuglis on or near the line before.

To Mr Lawrence. —There was a private crossing further up the line from Inglis’. He bad never seen Inglis cross the line and never knew that Inglis was deaf. To Mr O’Dea. —He did not think any other method of supplying lubricator glass was practicable.

To the Police.- —From bis position on the engine be could not see a man lying on the cowcatcher. After a short retirement the jury returned a verdict that deceased met his death through pure misadventure, there being no blame attachable to the driver or the fireman or to any one else.