THE ONGARUE SMASH

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLIV, Issue 9875, 24 July 1923, Page 7

THE ONGARUE SMASH

MISSION OF INOIMRY.

FURTHER EVIDENCE TAKEN. (per Press Association.) AUCKLAND, July 23. The Board of Inquiry into the Main Trunk railway disaster heard evidence ' here to-day, and adjourned to Wel--1 lington sine die. ..

! James Forrester -Mackley, _ locomotive engineer at Auckland, said he did ' not think it would take a very heavy blow to break: the asmoke-box door. The severance of the would auto- ' matically apfily the brakes .in espeot tively whether the engine driven | had allied them. Judging from the | damage to thfe k r ront of the engine me ! thought there was no doubt it struck the boulllei'. Tie thought the bolder which <dama#ed the smoke-bos kioor was either ‘carried along on the dr out

of the -engice or was pushed akaig the track ‘for some distance ana then thrown HIT. He did not think therte was a of the gas un the cylinders igniting unless i® * contact With 4a naked light or cinder. Marshbanks: Witness did not tliink making the ends of carnages solid would minimise the effects or ttiek an accident. vjdr Marchbanks: . Can "'you make ißtty suggestion to strengthen the ‘Mrs? , , Witness: No. The fowp-s at work

•'are so very considerable 'that nothing 'short of making them the same lines as the turrets of a man o war would- do. . In answer to further Questions, witness said he thought «he care were quite strong enough For what they were designed for. He considered the postal van escaped as lightly as it did because it did not apparently get the same extent of pressure as the cars immediately behind it did. The coiner of the car behind the postal van struck the bank and that took the pressure. Had the van received the same pressure as the other cars it must have teleseopsE, James Farqubar, -sporting writer, a passenger on the train, said the wounded were got out from the wreckage expeditiously, and everything was done to alleviate tiheir sufferings. Witness also spoke of the : courtesy and assistance to passengers of the stationmaster at TaxmraTunui. Witness, as a fairly regular traveller, wished to make a- strong protest against the length of some of the Main Trunk

trains. The strain * that met withsjhe accident, however, was not unduly Ion?. . '.lr Sterling:: Do you tlnnk everything possible -was done to l get the wounded ©nit relieve suffering: ’Witness: Yes. Very good work was' done-. Everybody was doing his best-. . . Evidence was given by several strain examiners to the effect that the train was fit to itrav&L William Charles Moloney, locomotive foTonuvn at Frankton, said he considcred the bending of the lieadstoek of the engine was *done by one of the first boulders -.to come down, and that this boulder .cnoasrid . the derailment-. _ Darcy lteginakl Smith, postal official estimated ."the speed of the tram at not more than 25 miles an haul. He saw flames shooting out under the centre of .the esarciage.. • Heu thought thev Wfiffi extinguished by the .slip. Hugh It. .Mackenzie, chairman of the Auckland .Harbour Board, said too suggestion that everything had not been done .in .forwarding uninjured passenders te their *. destination aftoi the accident was utterly wrong. Everytliing possible .wa° .dono. His luggage was kept at Taumarunui, and no mention war-made of a. charge. Henry Percy . Hobson, guard on the express, :aaid the \ speed of the traoi was between :20 P a.hd'. 25 miles an hour.

Ho saw a slight‘•flame issuing ; from a broken .cylinder,.on.,the. river- side of .a carriage, hut the jar on, the- mud when he jumped down, extinguished it. He received no ..complaints. There veie sufficient .tools.keep all going untilthe relief train, arrived, the brakes were tested at ,-Porootarao and found; quite satisfactory. When the undamaged carriages were taken back to On game it was,- necessary to pump up the cylinders .after coupling up to release the sbrakes, s showing that they were still 'holding three, hours after the To Air ATarehbanks : '.Witness said he was going to biggest to the Department that the break-down -tool set in “K” vans should tee duplicated. The evidence of t the engme.drivor on the express, Alexander S. Stewart, was taken at his -residence, as lie was not yet fit to attend. He. said the brakes were tested at P-esootarao and were satisfactory. The train passed through at about 2o miles ati liouij and after that he -shut off steam and drifted along at -about 20 miles an hour, but the speed may "Slave increased up to 30 miles an hour by the time the engine struek the slip. The headlight was burning well. He 'did not see-any-

thing before running into the slip, ine first warning lie had -wus when lie was into the slip. He applied the brakes immediately. The engine appeared +zo strike a heavy stone, -and was tossed about. After' travelling some distance iit was thrown into the bank. Something hit witness on the head, and lie was rendered unconscious. Mr Riddell: Could you account for the smoke box, door being'broken off ? Witness said the only -explanation was tiiat there were several large stones about. The engine jrnust have struck one in passing. Mr Riddell: Do you know of . your own knowledge whether the slip was moving ? —I noticed a whole lot come dowei when helping with rescue work, and there had been a rush of mud i through the window of the, cab.

Continuing, witness said lie was one of the "first drivers to run on the Main Trunkline, and had been running «n it for years. He had been off the run for sonic time, but lind boon back again for -about four years. Ho knew the line as well as the best, and did not regard this point as dangerous and did not anticipate any trouble. He knew other places that were move dangerous, and when coming to a dangerous place he would take extra precautions. He did not consider there was any necessity to do so here. He had no necessity to speed up. Mr Riddell: How do you account for the boulder near the engine on the right hand side ? —I think it must have come down at the 1 same time. Ido not know if it was the. one Hint broke the smoke, box. f think it must have S been on the line and was driven along j by the cowcatcher. ( | 'To Mr Sterling: My impression is i that the slip came down immediately before we came along. I do not think

the big boulder hit the smoke box. 1 think the vibration of the train had a lot to do with the slip coming down just then. To Mr A larch banks: It was a clear frosty night. There was no need for the surfacemen to anticipate trouble. Had the slip been on straight he could havo seen it. Witness said that had he thought the place was dangerous, or had he anticipated danger, he would have eased up. A driver felt for himself as well as for others. He did not see any gas cylinder alight at the slip.