HOW MR. PETERSON DIED.

Auckland Star, Volume XLV, Issue 125, 27 May 1914, Page 6

HOW MR. PETERSON DIED.

AN HEROIC SUTFERER, CHEER? THE INJURED TYTni DYI.VO WORD?.

l\ gTaphic. stoTy of tie smash wae told by Mr. .1. X. Trincar, of Te Kuiti, who was a patsenger in t!ie carriage immediately behind the sleeping car. "We reaelred AVhangamarirHi a.hout 5 o'clock, and suddenly rreard the whisalcs of two enirlnee. Then the Ibrakefi were applied. and iniTnfNliatfly afterwarde therf. , wae a cratsh like a thunderbolt and tho e.'neaiion of an enrth.pniko. The irain came to a standstill and I and the other pa-sse.ngp-rs eerambled out and hurried to tire front or the train in the darknesy. W> found thai a {roods train of 400 tonfi was partly on the main line and partly on a siding, and that the express ha-d crashed in;n ir. The engine mis ovprturneil. ami the mail van had telescoped with the sleeping -jir. The mail van had crushed through almost t.. within mv fe<-i of :■,.• en.l nf the .'.«np.i.r:-m.'ii:. l-Tinnaii-lr i; lia.l -cle-cn;,,.,! ,: ,„ ~,;,,. a:M .;,:., ~,,. At oooii ~r it um<! realized »h,iv iad

happened lights were obtained, the only two available 'bving the guard's lump an.! an ace: ylene liffht. All axe was alfto procured, and liiifc wae immediately put to use .in breaking , open the sleeping compartrrrcnt in which the passengers were impris-oned, and about an hour's labour the whole of them were frerd. ••cheer vvr ; Mr. Crimstoni* was apparently sevcn-ly ; injured internally. Mr. Petersen acted [heroically while »c were trying to get the three men out. While we were en'fleavonring to raise the weizht from him 'he kept railing out to the other two 'men tn cheer up. and encouraged the 'rescuer* in their work. "Thafa better." l,c called out. when we lifted part of the ! weight, and he seemed to be relieved. IHo bore up riprht to the ,-nd. and when ! finally the wreckage pinninji him was luted he cried. "I'm gone." and. expired. Mr. (Jrimstone and Mr. Swinson were carried out after Mr. Stevens. Mr. Pwin.*on apparently Inlying a broken thijrh. Mr. Donaldson had a remarkable icscnpe from death, and it was inejrpliei'ile why he was not pinned with the J others. ■ SCKN'K AT DAYBREAK. When daybreak came tho scene was an awein-ipirinp one. The wreckage 'was lieaped all around, and the engine of the cxpre.-.- was lying on its side across a creek, with one of the goods train trucks lumped on the top of it, and the steam still hissing. About six of the trucks of the goods train had hecn shattered by the impact and the splintered remains were strewn about. iron frameworks bein» twisted like tin. The mail van "was lying almost on the hop of the sleeping car, which it had

telescoped." "Surprise wap expressed by the pas'engers at the delay in ri-ceiving help ifrotn .Mercer." continued Mr Trinear. "Several of t'-'e passengers urged that the goods train, which was capable of travelling, should proceed with the injured to Hamilton, .but the oflicias would not allow it. and although Mercer was only t<ix miles away, a.s«istanoe in the shape of two doctors and police, did not arrive until three hours and ahalf after the .-mash." Speaking of the incidents which immediately preceded the Mr Trinear said that from inquiries he made on the spot, he understood that the distant signals were in favour of the express, but the points at Whangamarino station were against it. The home signal at the station, however, was said to be against the express. The goods train, which had 400 tons of freight, was partly in the siding and partly on the main Jine. The engine driver and the fireman realised the danger, and managed to jump clear as the engine was tumbling over. POSTAL CLERK'S ESCAPE. There were three clerks employed in the mail van, and all ha<l a miraculous escape. .Hearing the shrieking of the whistles, they ran to the fore part of the van to look through the window, and this, undoubtedly saved them. Tho next moment th»> van struck a water tank by the side of the line, the contents of which deluged the fore part "f the train, and the coach telescoped, leaving a very limited space just where the clerks had run to. They managed to crawl through an apeature in the side of the van. The pnrtcr who was operating the levers of the siding points sustained a broken arm. but otherwise escaped