DEADLY LEVEL CROSSING.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 91, 17 April 1913, Page 5

DEADLY LEVEL CROSSING.

AN AUSTRIAN'S DEATHt. . OVERTAKEN BY A TRAIN. THE ENGINEDRIVER'S STORY; The inquiry was resumed by Mr. T. Gresham this morning, at the Coroner's Court, into the circumstances connected with the death of a man named Andrew Gjugum, who was killed" at Normanby Road railway crossing on the Bth inst. Mr. Foweraker (railway, traffic inspector) watched the proceedings, and Mr. Oliphant appeared for the relatives of deceased. 'Sergeant Bowman represented the police. ".' . Phillip Williams (clerk to the Kauri Timber Mills) deposed that he was talking with the deceased a few; minutes before Ithe accident and the man was perfectly sober. Arthur Herbert White, architect, stated he .was a passenger on the train, being in the last carriage, which was a portion of the .guard's .van. He believed the usual whistle was sounded' at the gaol crossing, but being a frequent traveller by that train he did not take much notice of it. He heard a sharp whistle immediately afterwards, and felt the. brake going, on at the same time. It was either the brake or the impact he felt almost immediately- after -he heard the whistle. He looked out and saw three horses going away from Normanby Road - crossing. The, train travelled 170 ft after the impact. The length of the train was about 180 ft. Witness next saw the deceased lying clear of the lines orKthe left hand side. Dr. Josiah JR.: Lawry deposed that he found the injured man lying by. the side of the rails, about 15 to 20 yards from I the commencement of the nearest eattlc- ! stop to Mount Eden. The man was. uni conscious.. His h injuries could haye> re-' j suited from the struck, by a' railway engine and being--dragged along b3' it. . , THE DRIVER'S STORY. ! Christopher Patrick .Joseph O'Shea, driver of the motor train, who was formally cautioned by the' Coroner that he was hot. obliged to. make any statement which, in his opinion, might incriminate himself, stated that he- left Auckland and Newmarket sharp to.time, and had.no lost time to make up. Hewas . travelling 15 miles per hour; that was' according, to the speed restriction board, which fixed the speed when approaching a crossing at 15 miles per hour when on that particular section Jjof the. line. His first intimation, of the'accident was on seeing three heavy draught horses in the centre of the crossing. He I had whistled, and had his hand on the I brake. He put on the Westinghouse | brake and. reversed the steam at once. The.J three-ljorses were abreast, and in the centre of. the rails. He".gave" the long whistle- for the signal, one, for the gaol crossing and a prolonged whistle j for the Normanby' Road, crossing. The distance from, where - he - sounded; the gaol whistle, to the Normanby . Road signal was about 300 yards. • He.swung, the Westinghouse brake at full emer- ■ geney. - He also" reversed the. engine, and put full steam against her. The horses escaped by a hair's breadth, but- the . wagon was struck on the fore end.. He i could not have done anything else, to • avoid the accident. When he first saw the hprses he was about .three, engine - lengths away. » -.-. By Mr;Oliphant:.The hedge-round the . gaol was on the further side. The hedge did not intervene with the sight of that f crossing, Even- if the; hedge were not there, the natural situation of' the , ground wonld . be, an obstruction"' to . sight.. , , Coroner: What is your opinion about ' level crossings?. . . " '• J Witness said if the general public would •not take notice of whistles, there must' always be "risk, at crossings. -He made it a point to give prolonged whistles, at each crossing on : the Kaipara line. By the effort the horses -were- making to get over the crossing he imagined the ' driver of the horses had heard, the whistle and was trying to get over-first. Mr. Gresham: I wonld _ke your opinion as to level crossings. Is it reasonable to run these risks? Witness said he found people very careless regarding noticing whistles. The day after the accident he had to put on the emergency brake approaching Te Papapa, because two people in a trap were Chatting.' Fortunately the horse had the sense to stop, but the men seemed to be going right on. The fireman gave him a signal for dead stop. He also saw the three horses on his side. By a Juryman: An automatic bell might act as an additional warning to careless drivers of vehicles. He admitted ; it was a dangerous crossing. By Mr. Oliphant; When".steam" j was . shut off a train did not make much , noise. .V { Witness was cross-examined at ,con- .- siderable length by Mr Oliphant. He ( stated that he did not touch liquor. He r had an accident previously at Morning- ; side crossing. He was about 150 yards j from the NormanHy Road crossing when \ he gave the prolonged whistle. v To a juror: By the.time he finished the x prolonged whistle witness was seven oi t eight engine lengths-from.the .crossing. i THE FIREMAN'S EVIDENCE. Burnett Claude Hnckstcp, fireman on > the train in question, stated he had been i three years cleaning and two firing.- H< c. confirmed the previous witness' state 1 ment that there was no time to be mad< c up. The first whistle was the signal foi Mount Eden. The next whistle he hearc 7 was a long one approaching Normanbj • crossing. That would be about 300 yard: V from the crossing.' If there was a thirt 't whistle he did not notice it. f He" saw tin ; i deceased pulling on to the reins, and tin 't horse nearest -the train-was playing ;up c The driver of the vehicle looked straiglu n at the train. Witness indicated by hi: '" hand to-the driver of the train to stop l ' Witness saw the horses first because tin * vehicle approached his side of the'train '•* O'Shea could not have possibly seen tin hor9es before witness. O'Shea did al * that was possible to avoid the collision !S . JHis idea was that the driver was tryin* r " to cross, and the near horse got fright 'f*- ened. which drew deceased's attention t< >* the danger. Then the driver, of. th< 'd' vehicle tried to get across in an effort a - to avoid an accident., The long whistlt &" witness considered ample notification ol i" the danger. le To a juryman: The hedge and stone ?■ wall prevented witness seeing the vehicle i- earlier. If those were removed there » would be a better view. He first saw a the horses when they were about ten c - feet from the rails. The two front wheels d of the wagon got on the' line, and the ?».'. driver appeared -paralysed .with-iear, as ?. he neither tried to go forward nor pull Mr Gresham said.one horse playing up might block the other two. . < In answer to Mr Oliphant witness said j that in view of the position of the hedge r, it wonld not be possible for deceased to ■ have seen the train until hi* horses wen « thrjliM*. Fm jivei

between Newmarket and Normandy crossing. The signal whistle was given at the gaol crossing." .-; WITNESS OF THE ACCIDENT. James Ferguson Nelson,: an engine- . driver, who was .off .duty,J deposed to having witnessed the accident. He had just come out of. Bollard ahd Henderson's factory, and was coming down at the" side of the line when the accident occurred. The long whistle drew his attention to the engine coming round'the bend.. It was.then about 50 yards from the crossing. , He looked up the line'and saw the wagon approaching. The driver seemed to be arranging things in his wagon. As the horses were just coming on to the line there was another sharp whistle, but the driver seemed to take no notice. A trap stopped on the other side, and the driver of that vehicle also held up his hand as a warning to deceased, but the latter seemed to take no . notice until it was too late to avoid ah. accident. The'driver of the train did all he could to avoid the collision. Wit- : ness had a clear view of what happened. The man in the,.wagon/.had; his back turned towards the .engine when he was arranging things in the wagon. He believed the man was still arranging the things when the engine struck him. To a juryman: All level crossings were, dangerous to a certain extent, but tbe one at Nomianby Road was not parti**larly dangerous. The trouble-was that the public would not take notice .of whistles.' He believed a man in a wagon. could see the engine 30 to 50. yards from the crossing. . , - To'Mr Oliphant: The deceased seemed to be arranging some timber. He did not have hold of the reins when witness saw him. Witness did not see one horse plaving'up. ' . •"'""' . ... "■ '.".. The jury returned a verdict of death by misadventure, with no .blame, attach-, able to anyone. Attention was also called by the jury to the dangerous nature of the crossing. ~