WRECKED AT LEVEL-CROSSING

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 527, 3 December 1928, Page 1

WRECKED AT LEVEL-CROSSING

TRAIN CRASHES INTO MOTOR-CAR ONE MAN KILLED; FOUR PEOPLE HURT ARREST OF DRIVER FOLLOWS TRAGEDY (From Our Oxen Correspondent) Hamilton, Sunday. One man was killed and four people were seriously injured in a shocking accident which occurred at the Forest Lake Road crossing, Frankton, at 5.30 yesterday afternoon, when a tourer car driven by Mr. Patrick Deegan, aged 48, miner, of Glen Afton, containing six passengers, was struck by a goods train coming from Mercer. The driver of the car was subsequently arrested on a charge of being intoxicated while in charge of a car.

Details are: Killed MR. ALEXANDER HAMILTON, aged 30, labourer, married, with four children, Greenwood Street, Frankton. Injured Mr. C. Scown, of 59 Norton Road—shock, scalp wound, severe abrasions on arm. Mary Scown, aged 6*—serious head injuries and shock, condition critical. Charlie Scown, aged 10 —scalp wound, shock, injuries to back. Mr. Patrick Deegan, 48, miner, of Glen Afton—slight cuts on head. the invitation of Mr. Deegan, Mr. and Mrs. Scown and their two children, Charles and Mary, and Mr. Hamilton, went for a drive to Ngaruawahia, Mr. Deegan being the driver. With the driver in the front seat were Mr. Hamilton and the boy, Charles Scown, Mr. and Mrs. Scown, with the girl Mary, being in the back. The car was about half way across the Forest Lake Road when the engine crashed into it. MOTHER SEIZES CHILD As soon as the impact occurred Mrs. Scown grasped the little girl and rolled out on to the road. The wrecked car was carried as far as the cattlestops on the cow-catcher, the remainder of the occupants being crushed beneath the debris. CAR CATCHES FIRE When the car fell off the engine it immediately burst into flames. By this time the train had stopped and the driver, stoker and a couple of passers-by rushed to the blazing vehicle and extricated Messrs. Hamilton, Scown and Deegan. Two engines from the Hamilton Fire Brigade succeeded in quelling the flames and removing the car, which was a mass of twisted metal, from the line. Dr. Milroy was summoned and after first aid had been applied, the victims were rushed in an ambulance to the Waikato Hospital. As soon as the car hit the engine it turned a complete somersault. In view of this the escape from death of those underneath was miraculous. “IT WAS TERRIBLE” “As soon as I saw the train I tried to shout a warning, but couldn’t,” Mrs. Scown told a Sun reporter. “I rolled out with Mary just as I heard the crash. It was terrible.” Mrs. Scown said the boy Charlie was badly injured and she thought his back might be broken. The Forest Lake Road Is about half a mile north of the Frankton Junction railway station, and is regarded as a dangerous one. Mr. A. J. Denz, the driver of the engine involved in the accident, who is also a member of the Hamilton Borough Council, has advocated that this crossing should be replaced by a subway. At the last meeting of the council the engineer, Mr. R. Worley, recommended that the Railway Department should be asked to provide a subway, especially as the spoil was needed i * connection with the duplica-

tion of the line between Frankton Junction and Horotiu. On one side the line is approached by an incline, and it is considered that a subway would present few engineering difficulties. DRIVER ARRESTED Later in the evening Deegan was arrested on a charge of driving a motor-car while drunk. DRIVER FACES COURT REMANDED ON TWO CHARGES CONDITION OF THE INJURED (From Our Own Correspondent) HAMILTON, To-day. Patrick Deegan, 45, the driver of the car involved in Saturday's fatal accident, appeared before Mr. Wyvern Wilson, S.M., in the Police Court today charged with being drunk while in charge of a car at Frankton on Saturday. He was also charged that, while drunk, he caused the death of Alexander John Hamilton. Mr. J. F. Strang, for the accused, pleaded not guilty. HeVsaid accused was a labourer at Glen Afton Collieries, Pukemiro, and knew few people in Hamilton. Drunkenness was definitely denied and he asked for bail. The magistrate allowed bail, £2OO, with two sureties of £IOO each or four sureties of £SO each. On the application Qf the police accused was remanded for a week. The inquest into the death of Mr. Hamilton was opened at the Waikato Hospital to-day and adjourned after formal evidence of identification. The hospital authorities reported to-day that the girl, Mary, shojvs slight improvement and the boy Charles spent a comfortable night, but few hopes are entertained for his recovery. The condition of Mr. Scown is unchanged.

WEEK-END ACCIDENTS

FIVE PEOPLE HURT CARS AND CYCLES SMASHED Five people were injured, and two motor-cars and two motor-cycles were damaged, in accidents during the week-end. At midnight last night a light car driven by Mr. A. Miller, of Queen Street, Onehunga, while on its way into the city, collided with a twoseater car driven by Mr. W. H. Long, of 16 St. Albans Avenue, Epsom. Miss Johnstone, a passenger in Mr. Long’s car, suffered from shock, and Mr. Miller had his leg slightly cut. Both cars were badly damaged. While riding a motor-cycle along the New North Road, close to Avondale, about eleven o'clock last evening, Mr. George Radeliffe, a city bus driver, ran into a man walking on the road, a petty officer from one of the warships in harbour. Mr. Radcliffie was thrown on to the road, and was taken to hospital while still unconscious, suffering from a fractured skull. His condition is fairly serious. His motor-cycle was badly damaged. The petty officer was only slightly bruised. On Saturday afternoon Miss Irene Josephine Skinner, aged 21, of 174 Great North Road, was hurt in a motor-cycle accident at Pukekohe. She was taken into the Auckland Hospital, but her condition is not serious. Her motor-cycle was badly smashed up.