TUESDAY, JANUARY 27, 1885.
Notwithstanding the new circular which lias been issued bearing the signature of the Resident Engineer, reiterating the former order warning railway employees, under penalty of dismissal, not to furnish the press with information, we have ascertained the result of the secret inquiry held into the collision between the runaway engine and Onehunga train; and when we look at it, surprise at the extraordinary precautions against publicity ceases. The engine-driver Robertson, who bravely stuck to his post and met the engine which he saw tearing forward towards him in the darkness of the tunneJ, has received the munificent reward of £2 5s 1 That is to say, he was entitled by length of service to a rise of 6d per day, and the Government have liberally dated back the increase three months i This, then, is what tlie railway authorities consider a fitting recognition of an act of bravery which saved many lives, preserved Government property wort:) thousands of pounds, and relieyed them, i'rom actions at law which would, beyond all doubt, have let them in fur heavy damages. We know not who is responsible for it—whether the Minister at the head of the Department or one of his subordinates ; but a more scurvy act has never been placed on record. For much less than Robertson did, men have received the Victoria Cross and the special thanks ef Royalty. We have been unable to ascertain whether the fireman and the guard, were rewarded at all; but, calculated on the amount of Robertson's dole, the other ocffiiaJs who played a brave though secondary part, cannot have grown rich upon 'Government munificence. Punishment has been met«d out to the men in charge of the runaway engine and Xks train that collided with it. Driver Bracewell has been reduced to fireman for three months for not seeing that the line was clear before giving, the fireman the order to start the engine, and thereby causing collision with the stationary locomotive; Fireman Donaldson has been reprimanded for not seeing that the road was .clear before starting the engine, after having received Driver Bracewell's order to mo.ye on; Driver Bennett, the driver of the : runaway engine, is to be no longer employed as a driver and fireman inconsequence of having set the engine in motion and •then jumped off, leaving it .unattended.
We cannot regard ithe rnannf* pf ;holdingthis inquiry ,qr its .result as at all satisfactory to the : public. ,In:the .case of marine casualties, there is a public investigation before a ma^istAte and an assessor having technical knowledge. Are not the lives of persons who travel by rail of as much value as those who go by sea ? or is it
that the Government decline to place themselves under the laws which they impose upon private carriers? Lives are jeopardised as frequently upon the railway as on board ship, and when a serious casualty like that which occurred in the Parnell tunnel happens, the public have a right to claim that a searching and impartial investigation shall be made by persons who may not themselves have been contributors to the accident.
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Bibliographic details
Auckland Star, Volume XXVI, Issue 5467, 27 January 1885, Page 2
Word Count
520TUESDAY, JANUARY 27, 1885. Auckland Star, Volume XXVI, Issue 5467, 27 January 1885, Page 2
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