Henry Pritchard, (1863-28/12/1937). "the gate appeared to be open"

FATAL FALL FROM TRAIN

DUNEDIN, December 28,

A fatal fall occurred on the Otago Central railway line this afternoon, when Henry Pritchard, aged 74, a retired Harbour Board employee, who resided at Careys Bay, Port Chalmers, fell from the Cromwell-Dunedin express, suffering extensive injuries from which he must have died instantaneously. The accident occurred about 2.40 p.m., when the train was passing Matarae. Pritchard apparently fell from a carriage platform. He was accompanied by his son and daughter, and was seen on the platform a few minutes before he was missed.  -Press, 29/12/1937

FALL FROM TRAIN

ELDERLY MAN'S DEATH 

INQUEST ON VICTIM 

The adjourned inquest into the circumstances of the death of Henry Pritchard. aged 74 years, a retired Harbour Board employee, who was killed when he fell from a train at Matarae on December 28, was continued before Mr H. J. Dixon, S.M., yesterday morning, and after evidence had been heard it was adjourned to Middlemarch on a date to be fixed later. Sergeant Irwin appeared for the police, and Mr E. J. Chapman represented the Railway Department. 

William Pritchard, a tally clerk, of Port Chalmers and a son of the deceased, said that he, together with his sister and his father, were travelling together from Cromwell to Dunedin. The deceased's ribs were paining him as a result of injuries he received in an accident about a month previously. On the last of several occasions that the deceased left his seat, witness's sister accompanied him. When witness's sister returned she stated that her father was all right and that he was standing on the rear platform of the carriage. Within a minute or two, his sister went to see if their father was still there, and came back and said she could not see him at all. Just then the train stopped suddenly, and someone mentioned that there had been an accident. Witness got out of the carriage and saw his father lying on the ground clear of the rails. Witness thought he was dead. The deceased appeared to have been injured about the chest. Since the accident about a month before his death, the deceased had been in a very nervous state of health. 

To the coroner: The deceased had previously taken dizzy turns at home. 

Amelia Pritchard, a daughter of the deceased, gave evidence of travelling with her father and the previous witness, from Cromwell to Dunedin. Since the accident about a month ago someone had always accompanied her father wherever he had been. Witness said that when she last saw her father standing on an adjoining carriage platform there were two or three other men standing there also. Just as witness missed her father, the train was brought to a standstill, being pulled up suddenly. They were informed there had been an accident, and witness's brother went along the train, later returning and informing her that her father had been killed through being run over by the train. She was of the opinion that perhaps her father took a dizzy turn while standing on the platform. 

James Thomas Ramsay, a railway guard, said that he took over the train at Ranfurly. It stopped at Matarae to drop and pick up mails. After the train stopped for about a minute witness gave the driver the signal to start again. Witness turned towards the van and a youth who was standing on the station platform after receiving the mails called out, "What is that man doing under the train?" Witness gave the signal to stop, but the driver on the engine was disappearing round a bend and did not see witness, whose assistant, John O'Driscoll, then pulled the emergency brake and brought the train to a standstill. It had only travelled about two car lengths from where it stood at the station until it was stopped. As witness turned after hearing the alarm he noticed the deceased, who appeared to be on his hands and knees on the ground under the train. The deceased's head and shoulders were over the rail on the station side. Witness saw the two front wheels of the front bogie of a carriage pass over him. It appeared to witness that the deceased was actually crawling under the train when witness first saw him. Witness was unable to say whether the gates were open or not when he first saw the deceased underneath the train. Witness was of opinion that death was instantaneous. 

John O'Driscoll, a railway porter, who was assistant to the previous witness, said he was satisfied that no person got off or entered the train while it stopped at Matarae for about a minute. After the guard had given the right-of-way to the driver, witness heard a shout, and the guard gave the signal to stop. As the train did not stop at once, witness immediately applied the Westinghouse brake. The train proceeded about a car and a-half's length before it pulled up. Witness saw the deceased lying by the side of the rails and clear of them. Life was apparently extinct. The train was just under way after leaving Matarae when it was pulled up. 

John Johnston Simpson, a passenger by the train, said that after the train started again at Matarae, it had gone about two carriage lengths when he felt a jerk as if the engine was putting on more steam. Witness then put his head out of the window and saw a man on the ground in front of him, between the platforms of two carriages. Witness gave the alarm and ran through the carriage and jumped off. The train was then just stopping. When witness reached the deceased, he could see that he was dead. The wheel of the carriage appeared to have run over him from the chest to the shoulder on the right side. Only one carriage passed over the deceased. When witness ran out of the carriage and jumped off, the platform gate was open, and there was no other person on the carriage platform at the time. 

George William Walker, of Berwick, who was also a passenger by the train, said that after it left Matarae, he was leaning over the gate on the righthand side of the platform, when he saw the deceased swing out off the platform at the opposite end of the carriage to that on which witness was standing. The gate appeared to be open, and the deceased appeared to have lost his balance. In falling he caught hold of some portion of the gate or platform railing. He hung on for a second, but was too far over the edge to recover his balance. He then fell under the train. Witness rushed through to the guard's van, but the train had pulled up in the meantime. The train moved off smoothly from Matarae, and witness felt no jerk likely to cause anyone to lose his balance. To Mr Chapman: Witness said the deceased was not on the ground before the train started. 

The inquest was adjourned to Middlemarch on a date to be fixed, to enable the evidence to be taken of witnesses residing there.  -Otago Daily Times, 11/1/1938.

Port Chalmers Cemetery.

Port Chalmers Cemetery.