CORONER'S INQUEST.
<An- inquest was held yesterday iv I afternoon at the Court House, Masv;! >, tertori, to inquire into ■ the oirotiiuV" I stances attending the death of Albert 1 ;;.' Henry Spackman,V: The following / jury, was empanelled:-William,v Darle'y, James Walker, John .Charles'lngram,-George John Graham" (foreman.) After the/ «$ jury had viewed, tho .body, ; was" call.ed,'Mr. O,A Pownall':ah-!:-}' noUncingrthat :he B was .representing;;; >;, the relatives* _■■ -: 7'Amelia -Pratt,, 'resident. on tlio^ 1 '! *bn' Bide X; of the' Bitanmhuiiga ; bride, deposed * that jhprHyf before mrie'' : o'clock she ./.. heard; a ,pggqn.v come across ,tho;!. ;/ bridge. A" •train'WaS; following close .»' after it. \lt did'not whistle -after ; : ■; passing the crossing on ,the Master-; \' tonside;ofthe bridge, which would:.;;; be about.a quarter,.of a mile awayr.: ; She saw'|he' waggon topple over, the a.'fall fronjWn^to-. '->' twelve'; feet,''!it', walniosfc oppqsito.;! her residence. The driver was sitting }\ oh thewaggoniandtnade ntflrtfenipt •> to get off. ..She didl ■'not think ne had >!; seen' the train!; 1 Just as the engine got up to the.waggou itfell over.' A;V strong.wind was• blowing, and she- •' was sure it would 'prevent the '.driver • ] hearing, the approach of the train, A She was too frightened to go to the ~ j waggon : •• when : ' it toppled ; - over, /t Asfistance.came almost immediately, : p Men were approaching:.on as tlie accident happened. • It was her opinion the, trainthat caused acoident, Tho train was a. special; A one for the Show. 'j'| To Mr Pownall i She could not say wlietherthe train had been advertised, <■} The driver ought to haye whistled V when the waggon came on .the bridge, j: The engine did not whistle again 1 until after it had passed. She thought •••■{■ the driver could see the waggon. \ Both engine aud waggon were going 1 the same way. From where she I stood she could see both tbe.'waggon 1 and tlie train,.-When the engine I came lip the horses reared up and I', ran over the bank. As far if saw him the driver remained'tiff his I seat holding the reins. He a jfeared J to be trying to guide the horses, but j. ■ the waggon fellow so quickly that j : he could not get away> The. road and J railway bridges were side by side. 1 A fence only divided the road from I the- railway as one .came' off the i bridge, There was no fence on the i embankment side, If the road had | been fenced they might have saved 1 the horses going over, She did not 1 think an expert driver could have f :'■' avoided the acoident. In answer to 1 ; a juryman Mrs Pratt said trains did \ not whistle sometimes at the bridges. | ThomaS Freeman Brenchley, lime- | burner of Mauriceville, stated that f on the morning of the acoident ha f
was proceeding to Masterton in a spring trap with his wife. Onnearing the Euamahunga bridge his horse shied, and looking over the bank he saw a waggon and four horses. He had passedatram alittle before,apparently stopping. As booh as he had secured his horse he went, down the bank, whioh was very steep, and about 14 or fifteen feet deep, A man was down there., On asking him wlieri tho driver was the man said, "He isJh'der the waggon, quite dead," Ho then cut the ropes so that tho load could be moved from off the body. Deceased was lying on the ground face down. A big case was on top of decjlded's back; After having done all l)o could he oam'e on to Masterton to inform the police, He was quite satisfied the man was dead. - . .'• .
.To Mr Fownall: The accidenttoolc place about 80 yards on the Mauriceville side of the two bridges. The road was very dangerous at this place, being vety narrow with a steep embankment on tUo side. A man would have no chance if., his horseshied at an approaching train,'' He had been nearly oyer in the same place himself, He had known the road for the last 8 years. During that time no alteration had taken place in the road. He had heard lots of people complain of • the danger. It was a well-known fact that the train niado it ,fo dangerous. _ John Hansen, farmer, of Maurice ville West, corroborated the statements of ttie previous witness, and testified to having assisted to remove the furniture from off the deceased.
Pr Thomas J. 0. JfacLoughlin stated that he had examined the. body of A. Spaekman, aiid' from {frroly viewing the remains sawno indication of what caused death. The body as a whole showed evidence of being crushed, but death might have been caused by shock or suffocationfchut what actually caused death he iluld not say unless he had opened the body. Albert Thomas Spaekman, son of thodeceased, said he had breakfasted with his father, who said he was going to Miatua and wished the journey was over, He should be awayjhree days. His father was in his usual spirits, and was a sober steady man. •'•' N ".'■
Thomas P. Lett, carrier, stated that be linew the deceased, who had been in his employ ono month, He was a good driver' and a steady man, On hearing of.the accident lie proceeded to the scene in company with a constable, Hq found the waggon- capsized, the horses loose, and deceased lying o.i a couch. Left before the body was removed.
.To Mr Pownall: Know a good deal about driving, and did not think the_ raoslj expert driver could have avoided ah accident if the train came upon him unawares. The road v?« very clangorous indeed. Was noV aware if any complaints had been niado about the road, as he made only occasional trip 3 on that road. To Mr Graham: His driver was not awaro that this (rain was run-, ning, Had spoken of the tripsins' days previously, and deceased had asked him about the train! Ho had told him it generally arrived in Masterton about 'P'o'plopk, B,ncj deceased had expressed tys defcermiriT ationtptry and, avpjd, it, 'Bid noj knowwliethe'rpr np'tthis'train waj advertised, A» train had been ex, pected from Maurioeville to Master. ton, j but no expectation of one passing him, •'-.,.'• '.-.:■■ >: George Spaokman, a brother of' deceased, deposed to having visited the soene, and finding , him as described by last witness. He assisted to lift the body into an express, He noticed a great bruise on Lis oliest and another the right side of his head, His bones'seemed to croak when they lifted him,. His body wa3 quite warm at the,time. ' Joseph Geo. May, constable, gave evidence of a similar nature. to the last witness, ..:,._ In ansner to Mr Pownall,| witness saict he''considefed'the'''road par» ticulafly tlKbgeVbflai ITe road might ; ,bp safe'; by"tliaf erection of a substantial fence 1 , -.h. ■ After a short retirement the jury returned a verdict that the' depeaei" Autyt Henry SDaokpii,p.)|feß«
day of October, 1890, at Bosnialmng(i bridge, met his death accidentally through a. waggon which, was being driven by the deceased being upset down an embankment. ~ The following rider was addded •- Thavfrom the evidence addncod. at the inquest that part of the road whore the accidont occurred is, in its present state, extremely dangerous to public traffio, being so near a railway line, and also having a steep enbankment •on one side, wholly unprotected by Foiice or otherwise, andthbnuthoritieswliofti'oreaponsible for the same aro considered, highly culpable in not having said portion thoroughly protected by a substantial fence,
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Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3649, 30 October 1890, Page 2
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1,225CORONER'S INQUEST. Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3649, 30 October 1890, Page 2
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