RAILWAY FATALITY.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 7, Issue 138, 13 February 1915, Page 3

RAILWAY FATALITY.

INQUEST CONTINUED. THE CORONER'S VERDICT,

The inquest on the death of Mathew Miles Stanley Thomas, killed on the railway on Thursday, was continued after we went to press yesterday.when the following additional evidence was taken. G. M. EBBETT. G. M. Ebbett, engine-driver, said he left Taihape at about 0.10 a.m. yesterday, driving an engine bound for faumarunui. About 11 miles from Taihape, the fireman sang out, " whoa." He immediately put on the emergency brake and blew the whistle. The fireman jumped off and when the engine stepped witness saw deceased and two jiggers lying just at the back of the tender, on the fireman's side. He assisted to put deceased on the engine and brought, him back to Taihape. It was impossible from his position en the engine to see the obstruction on the line. Considering the class of country through which they were travelling it was possible that an accident could have occurred had the surfaceman been aware of the special's running. A sharp look-out was maintained, and the whistle was last blown at a crossing about 30 chains before the scene of the accident. The engine was travelling at about 20 miles an hour at the time. A tablet was received before the engine left Taihape. He did not know that anyone would be on the line except platelayers working thereon, and a sharp look-cut was always kept for them.

No verbal instructions are received from the station to deliver to men on the line. . W. S. PATTERSON.

William S. Paterson, fireman, gave evidence to the effect that he was firing for Ebbett on the engine in question. When about a mile and a half from Taihape he saw two men coming towards them on a jigger, about 30 yards distant. He immediately called out to the driver who applied the emergency brakes and blew his whistle. They pulled up within an enginelength past the scene of the accident. He saw deceased and his jigger thrown off the line into the gutter. He did not see the first jigger struck. Owing to the nature of the country it was impossible to see the jigger before he did. It is not always possible, owing to the curves, for the driver to get a clear view of the Hue. R. N. BLOMFIELD. R. N. Blomfield, cadet at Taihape, deposed that he had received a telegram at about six p.m. on Wednesday, stating "to-morrow a light engine will leave Taihape for Taumarunui at about 8.30 a.m." He placed a copy of this telegram in the station-master's box.

Cress-examined witness said he did not know the Department's regulations with regard to such a telegram; but knew that it had to be circulated round the station. He was in charge of the office when the message came through and was succeeded by clerk Latimer. It was his duty till 6.30 to circulate the message amongst the maintenance men or place it in their boxes. He did not notify the succeeding officer .ef the receipt of the message and where it had been placed, never thinking about it at the time. Latimer had no reason to su&pect that there was a message and had no means

of discovering this without going to the stationmaster's box or the file. The stationmaster should have got it when he came en duty for the express. The notice was circulated some time the next morning. He was aware that at other stations surfacemen and gangers visited their boxes in search of advices morning and night. He was not in a position to know if such was the case locally. He had been in the employ of the Department for the past 2\. years and was 18 years cf age. The duplicate of the message was placed on a file near the receiving machine. He was generally in the goods office, but was employed in the booking office on Wednesdays. He was in charge of the office for 40 minutes, during which time trains did not arrive. Examined by Mr Ongley he reiterated that ho did not know it was a practice in Taihape for the gangers and surfacemen to visit their - boxes night and morning.

Questioned by the stationmaster as to whether he should have put the message in the S.M.'s box witness said that he was told to put wires in the box. The message in question was the first he had received of that character and he had. as usual put it in the box. T. GARRICK. Thomas Garrick, clerk at the Taihape railway station, said he knew there was a telephone at Bennett's Siding for the use of surfacemen. He had received a call Thursday morning from surfaceman O'Neil of Bennett's Siding asking if there was anything on the road before the express, and he answered in the negative. He did not know at the time that any advice had come to hand of the running of a special.

Cross-examined witness said if he had been asked by O'Neill if there was a special on after the express he would have locked up the train advice book. There was, however, .no entry of the special in tbis book.

C. T. JEFFREYS. C. T. Jeffrey!?, district engineer, proiduced rules and and a I working time-table for the Coroner's ] perusal. J E. CLARK. i E. Clark, acting S.M. at Taihape, I said he had just previously been at Tau'marunui. It was a practice there J for the member of the Department receiving train advice to hand it to the I S.M. or officer in charge whose duty 'it was to circulate it. The same instructions applied to every station. He • was told by his predecessor that the | custom here was to hand train advices 'to a cadet who cyclo-styled copies and handed them t,c the coaching foreman {for delivery, lie was not on duty when i the message came. Blomfield would be lon duty during- the tea hour and would

! be relieved by Latimer. I He was advised before being crossj examised that .he need not answer i any question put to him unless he | wished to do so. Witness said he first j heard of the advice at 8.5 p.m. Asked j if he had taken any snaps of the ad--1 vice he refused to answer and when asked if he knew what became of the ! message afterwards he remained sil- ': em. Me said lie had caused it to be I -yclo-styled but would not give the I time. He was unable to say if copies I were placed in the boxes. | VERDICT. | The coroner found j'.h'at deceased j was killed by being run into by a rail- | way engine whilst on a trolley going to iiis duties en the 11th inst. No blame is attachable to the enginedriver or foreman or to the men with whom he was working. A rider is atI tached that the accident would not

have happened if the regulations of the Department, had been adhered to.