THE TRAIN FATALITY

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 246, 23 February 1911, Page 6

THE TRAIN FATALITY

HEAVY BOULDER CRASHES INTO A CARRIAGE. The Wellington Times gives the following account of the above strange accident: — Miss Alice Power,! one of the passengers from Wellington on Monday's Napier impress, met her death in an extraordinur, manner. Accompanied by Miss Mora li, a girl friend, she left Wellington to visit her brother at Napier. The friends travelled in a second-class carriage having side-seats, and there were about twenty passengers. It is fortunate there was not a full complement, or a [still more serious disaster would have i.had to be recorded.

About an hour after leaving town the train runs along the cliffs, the sea just below and the towering hillside on the right. Miss Power and her friend sat, with their backs to the hill, and when the train was approaching a point neat the quarry south of Paekarariki station, a big piece of rock crashed down the steep bank, knocking in the side of the carriage and killing Miss Power oatright. ■ A MIRACULOUS ESCAPE. The poor young lady had no warning of her fate, and it is a miracle that her friend was not taken also, for they sat with only a hatbox between them. The boulder, which was afterwards found to weight fifteen hundredweight, smashed the seat to matchwood, hit the floor, which is made of three layers of heavy wood, and bounded up towards the root on the far side.

Miss Moran escaped, but other passengers were not so fortunate. Mrs. Bird, of Manakau, sustained a cut on tho forehead, and bruises on one arm, her daughter, aged Ave, had injuries on the legs and head. Mrs. Sims, of Hataitai, Wellington, mother of Mrs. Herd and wife of Mr. Charles Sims, of the Sims Hardware Co., was bv used on both legs, and Mr. S. N. Greei:, m' Tonnsonville, was badly bruised on both leys and suffered from shock. The injuries .vere not serious enough to prevent the sufferers going on to their destinations, though Mr. Green determined to return home. The deceased must have been struck on the back, as there is very little disfigurement ex'cept a severe scalp wound on the left forehead due to her falling forward on the carriage floor. BROTHER'S SAD JOURNEY. The damage to the carriage did not interfere with its running, and the train went on to Paekakariki, where it was detached, and the dead body of Miss Power taken into the station, building. She was to have met one of her brothers (a Feilding resident) at Palmerston North, but be, instead of seeing his sister well and in the best of spirits, as she left Wellington for a holiday, received the sad message that the accident had happened, and that if he travelled down by the Auckland express, it would make a special stop at Paekakariki, to take the body to Wellington. Mr. Power travelled by this train, and made arrangements for continuing the sad journey with his sister's body on to the Mapourika <f«fr Greymouth, <thc lionie of her parents. Mr. Patrick Power, father of the deceased, is one ot the oldest identities on the Coast. He lives at South Beach, Greymouth. Constable Cummings, of Johnsonville, went to Paekakariki soon after the accident, I and took charge of the body.

NOT A DANGEROUS PLACE. The accident did not occur where the steep cliffs along the railway would most suggest the possibility, but took place where the level land widens out, and the boulder-strewn hillside has a scant covering of grass and scrub. The place has not been regarded as in any way. dangerous, or it would have no doubt been protected by the wooden shields which alternate with tunnels half a mile further south. Fire passed over the hillside a day or two ago, and early yesterday morning there was heavy rain. These circumstances, it is suggested by the railway officials, probably account for the loosening of the boulder which caused the fatality. As there was absolutely no warning, the driver of the train could do nothing to avert the accident. Miss Moran, whose pitiable distress excited great sympathy, returned to Wellington with the body. She could give no account of the accident except that it was entirely without warning, and was all* over in a second. Miss Power was about twenty-four years of age, and a member of the Tailoresses Union, Greymouth. She worked at her calling in Wellington until Saturday last, when she left to take a holiday. THE INQUEST.

Wellington, Wednesday. At the resumed inquest on the body of Miss Power, who was killed on a train by a falling rock, evidence was given that' the spot from where the boulder fell was 350 feet above the level of the rails, and about 51;) feet horizontally. Expert witnesses stated that in their opinion the spot where the accident occurred was not considered dangerous. The jury returned the following verdict: "That we have come to the decision that it was a case of pure misadventure. The jury, having visited the spot, are of opinion that there arc some stones liable to conic down, but we are not able to make any recommendation as to'their removal."'