Serious Railway Accident. TRAIN IN COLLISION WITH A WAGGON. FOUR PERSONS INJURED.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 378, 19 June 1889, Page 5

Serious Railway Accident. TRAIN IN COLLISION WITH A WAGGON. FOUR PERSONS INJURED.

Auckland, June 17. There was near being a terrible tragedy at Ellerslie on Saturday— a railway horror that would have been a nine days' sensation. The half-pa&fc five train from town ran into a large waggon belonging to Mr J. J. Craig on the crossing at the racecourse station, completely smashing the hinder part of the vehicle. A man named Fred. Hyde had his head cut open, his collar-bone broken, and also sustained some internal injury. A boy named Thomas Goldsmith had his right arm broken in two places, while another lad named Thomas Walsh had his head badly cut. The first two are now in the accident ward at the Hospital, and the latter at his parents' residence at Ponsonby, Another man was slightly injured, and was taken charge of by his friends.

A DISTRESSING SCENE. A representative of the Star, who was on the scene immediately after the accident occurred, describes the scene to have been piteous. The racecourse station platform is very long, and at the time of the accident it was thronged by hundreds of people who had jusb left the course. They lined the platform one end to the other, but very few of them were aware when the train dashed past that it was going on such an errand, and it was not until they saw the Star Extras that they were aware what a narrow escape they had had from sharing in the disaster which occurred. On the racecourse men were struggling round the totalisators eager to get the last dividend, while vehicles and pedestrians blackened the road to the crossing. On the crossing for a distance of about thirty yards down the road towards the Harp of Erin Hotel were the remains of the broken vehicle, the hinder wheels being clean gone. By the side of the road the lad Goldsmith lay against a wall sobbing bitterly over a broken arm, while a score of people stood around, sympathising]! but unable to aid him. Near by, Mrs Walsh held her boy in her arms, his head all cut and bleeding, seemingly unconscious, and her doleful mourning was piteous to hear. Further down the railway line, some iorty yards from where the accident occurred, Hyde lay on the green bank with his head cut open, his collarbone broken and some ..internal injury. Easrer questioners thronged each "witness of the accident while other people were funning about searching for a doctor. Altogether the spectacle as seen in the rapidly-falling dusk was a very striking and a very touching one. Dr. Walker was speedily on the scene and bestowed all possible attention on fch'e injured persons. He fortunately kad some lin b and bandages in his pocket, and these were brought into re quisition, with some little difficulty. As it wasnearly darkat this time thedoctor had to feet about his task by the light of matches, bub by perseverance it was soon completed, and the sufferers were conveyed to town by train. Hyde and Goldsmith were subsequently removed to the Hospital, and Walsh was taken to his home in Ponsonby,

HOW THE ACCIDENT OCCURREDAn eye-witness of the occurrence says: At about 5.30 p m. the train arriving from Auckland whistled, and, on my looking towards the crossing, 1 saw a waggon in the act of going over it. Befoie the waggon could get clear of the line, the train struck ib close to the tail-board, knocking the vehicle off the line, and causing injury to several persons, viz. , Thomas Walsh, Thomas Goldsmith, Fred. Hyde and another person who was not badly hum, and was taken away by some friends.

THE DRIVER OF THE WAGGON. Isaac M. Franklin states ;—"; — " I am in the employ of Mr J. J, Craig. I was the driver of a four-wheeled waggon drawn by three horses, and was at the racecourse on Saturday last. When I drove up from the racecourse the gate at the railway crossing was open. It was quite dark, and I did not see the train approaching, neither did I hear the whistle blown. I therefore did not pull up the horses. When I arm ed at the crossing a man holding a light tried to stop me. He told me to go back because a train was coming, but, as my leading horses were already on the lines, I told him to let me drive on, as otherwise the engine would be on tpp of me, I then whipped my hordes, and got them across the lines, I was sitting on the box of the waggon and the engine struck the hinder part of it. Jdo not know how many persons were in the waggon. I only took one man from the racecourse, and 1 do not know his name. Had I stopped when the guard held up the light my horses would have been killed, as they were on the line, and I gould not have pulled them back in time to get clear of the engine.

THE OTHER SUFFERERS. ' ' Frederick Hyde, one qf the occupants a* the waggon, appears to be particularly urr « fortunate, A short time ago he had oneof his eyes knocked outabTeArohdjandsuedalpoftl

bu tch er for ""£5OO for d am &?ee>?^'bu t " tK e , action was settled oufc of Qourfc lay payment, of £200 and costs. " With regard to Saturday's accident, Hyde' states that Jie was sitting on the tailboard of the waggon when it was struck by the engine. , He was carried by the cowcatcher for some considerable distance along the line, and then thrown clear of the track. Dr. Bell, House Surgeon [ at , the Hospital, states that Hyde has a ■ scalp wound fuiiy six inches long, , but the skull is not touched, and there ip no fracture. His, right collarbone is broken, and there is also a large bruise on his right side that hab caused some internal injury. The latter, however, may be only a severe contusion. Hyde was rather better this morning, and the doctor expects him to recover. Thomas Goldsmith, who was also taken to the Hospital, is a lad of sixteen years of age, whose parents reside in Nelson-street. He states he was not in the waggon when the collision took place, but was standing by the rails looking on. He got caught and jammed by some part of the vehicle, when the train dashed into it, and sustained severe injuries. His right arm is broken in two places. Thomas Walsh, the other sufferer by the accident, is a lad fifteen years of age and his parents reside in Sheehan-street, Ponsonby. He was a good deal hurt by the wheel of the waggon being.thrown against him. He was taken home by his mother, who declined to permit him to be taken to the Hospital.

[ MIGHT HAVE BEEN WORSE. It is very fortunate thao the accident was not more serious, as there was a great number of people about ab the time. It is believed that if the waggon had been right across the line, instead of only the hinderpart being in the way of the train, some injury would have been caused to the hundreds of people who crowded the platform, and that the lives of those on the train would have been imperilled. 1 The driver of the waggon consequently takes credit for having done the best thing * under the circumstances when he disobeyed the order of the guard by attempting to drive over the line, instead of making an effort to pull his team back, the course which he adopted being, in his opinion, the>asiest and most expedient under the circumstances.

DR. WALKER'S STATEMENT. vJS Dr. Walker, who attended to the injured persons immediately after the accident, says :— I was standing on the platform, and although I did nob actually see the collision, I heard the crash caused by the engine striking the waggon. Someone came to me and informed me that a lot of people had been terribly hurt, and I went at once to the scene of the accident. I found that four people had been injured, viz., Frederick Hyde, Thomas Walsh, Thomas Goldsmith, and a man named Davison, who keeps a linen shop in town. Hyde was the most seriously injured, and I paid attention to him first. I felt his pulse, and found it pulseless. I then examined his head and found it cut fearfully. Fortunately I had in my pockets some lint, and it proved sufficient to cover the whole of the wound. While I was dressing the wound people who were standing round struck matches, and kept them alight, to let me see what I was doing because it was almost quite dark. After I had done what I could for Hyde I had him placed in a fiiscclass carriage, and then went to see the others who had been injured. One poor fellow had his arm smashed up to the elbow joint, and with some difficulty I got the injured member put up in a sling. The other boy I saw in the train, and having done what I could for him, I went back to Hyde. His pulse was then perceptible, and he had recovered consciousness. lie complained about internal injuries and seemed to be suffering much pain. The fourth person who was injured, Davidson, was taken away by some friends. He was knocked over by the force of the collision, and sustained somewhat several injuries, on account of which he is now confined to his bed.

GUARD PE ARSE'S STATEMENT. Guard H. Pearse gives his version of the occurrence as follows : — I was placed in charge of the road crossing. A waggon drawn by three horses driven by a man named Franklin, approached the line when the train from Auckland was coming in. Franklin persisted in crossing the line in the face of the advancing train, although warned of his danger. [ eventually had to clear out of the way to avoid being driven over by Franklin, or rundown by the train . The frame of fche advancing en - gme hit the oft-hind wheel of the waggon, pulling the wheels and axle off, and injuring some of the people who were standing about the crossing, although I had warned them to stand clear till the train passed.

ACTION BY THE RAILWAY DEPARTMENT. Isaac Franklin, the driver- of the waggon is te be proceeded against by the R way Department for a breach of the Public Works Act, which provides that no vehicle shall attempt to pass over a crossing when an approaching train is within a quarter of a mile of the crossing. We made some inquiry as to whether itwas not usual or possible to have this crossing shut off from traffic by means of a gate when a train was approaching, and were informed that no precautionary measures of this kind are taken. It is not usual to olose the gate at this crossing when the train is approaching, and trains have been running over it daily without any accident having occurred previous to Saturday last.