THE PAPAKURA ACCIDENT.

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 73, 27 March 1920, Page 12

THE PAPAKURA ACCIDENT.

RAILWAY PORTER'S DEATH. AD.JOUBXED rXQi."EST. The adjourned inquc.?t concerning the death of John Sharp, a railway porter, who met. with an accident while shunting at Papakura on March 17 last, and died subsequently as the result of his injuries, was continued at. the Maeistrate's Court, before Mr. ,T. E. Wilson, ■ S.M.. this morning. Mr. ,T. .T. Sullivan appeared to watch the. interests of the engine driver. Mr. H. A. Perm, traffic inspector, represented the New Zealand Railways, and Mr. Endean the relatives of deceased. William Francis Osborne, inspector of permanent ways, residing at Papakura. said he had examined the points about ten minutes after the accident occurred. The lock-bar had been broken and the key had been taken out of the lock. He made' inquiries as to who had removed the key, but no one seemed to know. In company with the. sta.tioumastor and two others he again examined the points . and line and found marks as' tnoug* ?omething ha"d been dragged, from which , he formulated the opinion that the man must have unlocked the points and had the. bar in his hands in the act of throw- - ing it over when he was struck. After turning over the lock-bar he should have gone straight out to the lever which works the points, and if the engine were close, be would press the lever down and give the. signal to come ba-ck. j By Mr. Perm: The points were iv a good condition when he examined them. By Mr. Sullivan: Deceased had been employed in the Traffic Department for about five months. Witness -was of opinion that deceased had not touched the lever. Herbert, -lames Hill, blacksmith, said he. was in the vicinity when the accident .'happened aud rushed, over. He found j deceased lying on the line The latter was conscious and said: "They did not give mo a chancre, they ran straight over. mc." Thomas Dickey, porter, sa-id he came to the scene of the accidcit at the call of the previous witnescs. Deceased was lying on his back. Witness acked him how" the accident happened, receiving the reply. "I did not have the points open when the engine came -back." By Mr. Perm: He oiled the points the da.v before the accident. James Joseph Bovaird, railway guard, gave, evidence a.s to the running of the train on the evening of the accident When his attention was drawn to the accident he. epoke to deceaaed. and asked him how he felt, the latter replying: "What do you think, Jim; it came back before I told him." By Mr. Endean: The enginedriver could have seen deceased if the latter had been sitting on the points. Tf, however, the engine were, within a few feet lof the points the driver would not be 'able to see the deceased. | By Mr. Sullivan -. When he examined ! the points five days afterwards they ] ' stood at half-cock when they should j have, been at normal, pointing to the ■ need of oil on them. This condition could have been caused by rainEvidence was given by Constable A. Johnston to the effect that he assisted to place deceased in the guards van. The latter -was quite conscious, and in reply to a question said: "The driver came back with the engine, before I was Teady and before I gave him the signal. T called out when I was under the cowcatcher." Witness examined the points next day. A new lock-bar had then been fitted. THE DBIVER"S EVIDENCE. James Ashtrj", driver of the train in connection with which the. accident occurred, said the points were unlocked by the porter, who then gave tho signal to pull out. They pulled out on to the main line. The porter got on to the rear ! of the engine and dropped off by the main line points, which he opened and 'gave the signal to come back while he eat on the" lever. Witness could see that, the points were open. There was ; nothing to draw witness' attention to the loci-bar. He gave the engine steAm, shut her off again, and looked out of the Icab -window. He was then close on the ■ points and deceased jumped off the lever and ran towards the cow-catcher. By ;practical experience witness knew deceased had made a mistake, and that there was something wrong. The regullar thing to haTe done would be to sit 'on the lever till the train got through. .When witness got, down immediately after the accident, part of the train was on one line and part on another. Deceased was lying on the ground, four or five yards from the points. Witness pulled him away from the rail and carried him on to the grass. He told his I mate to run the train on to the main jline again, saw that the points were (right. . and took the key and went to the station for assistance. The key was in the points. When he set tho points he had to use his foot, and they seemed to want- oil. By Mr. Endean: Witness had not, nearly run over, in the same way, a man !called McCurdy. He had been in the service 27 years, and this was the first time an accident occurred. j The inquest- is proceeding. ————————— |