THE PAPAKURA ACCIDENT.

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 76, 29 March 1920, Page 8

THE PAPAKURA ACCIDENT.

aFIBEMAN'S EVIDENCE. fI?OIXTS jiXXEGED TO BB DEFECTIVE EARTTES TO VISIT SCEXE. rurtlier evidence concerning iho Jpath of John Sharp, a railway porter, following on an accident during- shunting opprations at Papakura on March 17. was taken, Mr. J. E. Wilson, S.M., presiding, oftiT the "Star" went t<> lircsa un Saturday afternoon. Jlr. J. .1. Sullivan appeared on behalf of the enginedriver, Jamea Aehby, Mr. 11. A. Perm. traifio inspector, represented tilt" NfW Zealand Knilways, and Mr. Kndi-UH the l-elntives of the deceased. Continuing -to his evidence, .Tames Bshby said that deceaeed might liavo been running to <lo eometliil)(t lo the poiute when thp accident happened. '"He ran into death." lie heard deceasoi] call cut aiter the brttkes had been applied. To a suggestion that witness <lid not 6ee the deceased, but thought everything wa« all right for the engine to proceed and -went ahead, running into the deceased when he was pulling lip thej points, witness replied "Certainly not. It's rot. , ' Continuing;, witness sta-tefl that after the accident he tried to lock the points with thG key but found that it was Siroken. Deceased could not have done anything l>y jumping in from, of the pnpine. To Jlr. SuTlivaTM A porter was susfiended for not cleaning the puinis in question. They were defective on the following Monday. Burnett Claude Huckstep. the fireman bn the engine when the accident, happened eaa'd he could not say if the decea/sed sijj- ' Bailed. . Just before they arrived at .the points he felt the emergency brake applied. The points' lever had not dropped to its normal position after the jaocident. Cross-examined by Mr. Endean, witneas aaid that it would have been possible for the deceased to be attending to the bar of the lock when the engine struck fciin. To Mr. Sullivans The fact that there . was nobody on the lever when the engine "was on the side line showed that the points were defective. . At this etago the proceedings were ladjourned indefinitely to permit the coroner and counsel to inspect the scene t x>i tlifi accident.