FATAL RAILWAY ACCIDENT.
A fatal accident occurred on the south railway line, near Caversham, shortly after eleven o'clock last night, by which a railway servant named Robert Burns lost his life. Exactly how the accident occurred must remain largely a matter of conjecture, as no one saw it happen, the first intimation that anything was wrong being when the van gave a bump, as though there had been some obstruction on the line. The deceased was assistant guard on the train which left Mosgiel for Dunedin, James Slight being the driver and Charles Hannigan the guard. When the train was passing through the tunnel at Caversham Burns left the van in the rear of the train on his way to the front van to apply the brake there, this being the usual custom. What happened then cannot be stated with any certainty, but it is presumed that he slipped and fell between the van and the rearmost carriage. There were some passengers in this carriage, and as deceased did not pass through it there seems no other explanation as to the cause of the accident. As stated above, the van gave a bad bump, presumably when it passed over the body, and was thrown off the line. The train was stopped as quickly as possible, and a search made along the line, when the body was found. The wheels had passed over the legs and stomach, the lower portion of the body being badly mutilated. Some difficulty was experienced in getting the van to Caversham, traffic being blocked for a time. Deceased, who was a single man, was about twenty-six years of age. He joined the railway service about two years ago, and was employed for about six months in the maintenance department in the Clutha district, when he was transferred to the traffic. He was very popular with his fellow-employes, his obliging nature gaining him many friends. His parents are both dead. His nearest relatives are a sister living at Mosgiel and two brothers, one of whom resides at Timaru, while the other, we understand, recently went to South Africa. A sad feature in connection with the accident was the fact that deceased was to have been married about Christmas time.
The inquest was held at the Police Station late this afternoon. -Evening Star, 18/10/1900.
FATAL RAILWAY ACCIDENT.
THE INQUEST.
An inquest on the body of Robert Burns, who was killed near Caversharn late on Wednesday night by being run over by the van of a train, was held at the police station yesterday afternoon before Mr C. C. Graham (coroner) and a jury of six, of whom Mr W. Brown was chosen foreman. Mr J. F. M. Fraser appeared to watch the case on behalf of the Railway Department.
Alexander F. Gibson said that deceased was his brother-in-law. He was twenty-six years of age, and was employed in the railway service as assistant guard.
Charles J. F. Hannagan, railway guard, said deceased was on duty on Wednesday as assistant guard on the train which was due to arrive in Dunedin from Mosgiel at 11.15 p.m. Prior to entering the Caversham tunnel he instructed deceased to proceed to the front van to apply the brake, so as to have control of the train on reaching Caversham station. About a minute later he left to go forward. In about another minute the hind van left the rails. He knew what had happened by the noise and bumping. Witness then applied the brakes on the carriages, so as to stop the train, giving the necessary danger signal. The train pulled up at the cutting, and Driver Slight came back to see what was wrong, but on examination to ascertain what caused the derailment they could find nothing wrong. Seeing nothing of Burns, they went back, and found him lying across the line, and quite dead. His lamp was lying about four feet off in the middle of the rails. When witness went through to apply the brake of the carriage there was no handle on the front door of the van. He had to open the door with his carriage key, and part of the handle jammed the door when he was opening it. The other handle was found about a rail length past where deceased was lying. The spindle was found in the lock in the door. He thought that deceased had depended on the handle when crossing, and that it had broken off while he had hold of it.
By Mr Fraser: It was customary to apply both brakes with a heavy train in dirty weather. On each side of the door of the van there was a projecting hand-rail. The customary practice was to catch the rail on the van, and with the other hand lay hold of the rail on the opposite carriage, and then to step over and under the rail of the carriage. The distance would be rather less than the distance between two carriages. Witness had never seen the door handle of the van used when-crossing. The night was a dirty one. The accident might have happened through deceased slipping and catching the handle to save himself, thus breaking it off. There was no more difficulty in passing from the van to a carriage than in going from one carriage to another.
Mr Gibson referred to the fact that deceased had to close the door of the van on leaving, to do which he had to catch hold of the handle. If the handle had been strong the accident would probably not have happened. To this a juryman replied that, while this might be true, the handle should not have been depended on in crossing. At this stage Guard Hannagan illustrated to those present how he acted when crossing from the van to a carriage.
James Slight, driver on the train when the accident happened, said that after coming through the tunnel the train was going very slow, and on looking back he noticed the red light being shown. On going back he found the rear van off the rails, but could not see any cause for it. On going back about 150 yds or 200 yds in the tunnel he and the guard found deceased lying across the rails. He was almost cut in two and was quite dead.
William Crombie, station-master at Dunedin, said deceased was a very steady and sober man. He had been steadily employed as assistant guard for three or four months, but he had frequently acted in that capacity for months before. He had heard the evidence, and the procedure with regard to applying the front brake was the usual one. Deceased was on the same train on the two previous nights. The van was of the ordinary pattern of modern vans. There was no difficulty in getting through from the van to a carriage. It only required a man to exercise ordinary care in crossing. There were hand-rails on each side of the door for the use of the guards.
The jury without retiring brought in the following verdict: — "That deceased met with his death by accidentally falling from a train while in the exercise of his duty as a guard." -Evening Star, 19/10/1900.
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