The Daily News. MONDAY, MAY 19, 1913. RUSHING SHUNTING.

The unfortunate death of Guard G. Bradbury from injuries received while shunting at night time at Otorohanga last week has not attracted the comment it should have done front the press. Bradbury, while assisting in shunting, got his foot jambed in a rail at the crossing, and was unable to extricate himself before the goods train knocked him down, and he received injuries that resulted in his death shortly afterwards. • This was unfortunate enough, but if the evidence given at the inquest is reliable it discloses a state of affairs that cannot he s allowed to continue. Shunting is a dangerous operation at the best of times, and it is doubly dangerous at night, when- it has to be conducted, with the aid of lanterns, in all sorts and conditions of weather. Another guard giving evidence said that accidents of the character that cost Bradbury his life often occurred through rush, and that if they did not rush the shunting they were fined for excessive delay. Other evidence was also called to show that the yard was very rough to work. If these statements \ are correct there is need for an instant I and thorough Departmental enquiry and j explanation, to allay the public uneasi- | ness which must necessarily follow the ' incident. We can easily understand that ) the Department requires the greatest expedition possible in the handling and transhipment of goods, but haste must be made subservient to the safety of life, and at least the men should demand that the facilities for conducting the work are of the best, and that the equipment and surroundings of the. shunting tracks are the best that it is possible for modern enterprise to supply. It is reasonable to assume that the conditions existing at Otorohanga exist at I other stations, and if this is so a ) number of the State's employees must be j daily and nightly taking their lives in ? their hands. As a matter of fact accidents to shunters are far too prevalent in New Zealand, and in proportion to the number of men engaged at the work they probably show a greater death rate

per annum than is shown in any other occupation in the country. If this unfortunate man's death results in drawing attention to the conditions under which railway employees are obliged at times to work it will be a relief to a large body of capable and willing workers. We must, of course, suspend judgment in the meantime, but it is obviously the duty of the railway authorities to make some statement explanatory of the very plain evidence of an unqualifiedly alarming character given by others of their employees at the inquest.