SENSATIONAL ACCIDENT

Auckland Star, Volume LII, Issue 27, 1 February 1921, Page 5

SENSATIONAL ACCIDENT

TRAM LEAVES THE RAILS, i SASHES rSTO BRICK WALL MISHAP IS SYMONTiS STREET. PASSENGERS' MIRACULOUS ESCAPES. A sensational tram car accident, in which the passengers had miraculous escapes, occurred in Symonds Street 4his morning at 8.30 o'clock, when a ffilount j Kden car, No. 29 (one of the oldest on the road;, bound citywards, left the rails, dashed across the st-reft, mounted tha footpath, and crashed into the roefcery bordering the old cemetery. The car had stopped about 200 yards further back at East Street to allow passengers to alight, and, fortunately, was not travelling fast when it jumped the rails. The cause of the »udd>"n diversion was the collapse of a gear wheel. The vehicle da&hud violently into the rock--.r3.1l with a terrible jolt, accompanied by loud grinding. Fortunately it maintained an unright position, than a car's length from where the wheel collapsed to the nglit there i= a metal standard in the road. By good lack the car veered to the left, following the camber of the road. It was also lucky that there was no traffic just a* that spot, although a large number of business people were motoring in from the suburbs at the time. City-bound cars very quickly backed up from the scene of the accident to the top of ?ymondi Street, and thousands gathered round to ?ee the result. The exact spot where the car struck the cemetery wall was at a point opposite the stone archway leading into the Graf ton section of the cemetery. The wall which brought the car to a standstill was about two feet in height. Had there been sufficient impetus to cause the car to mount this slight obstruction it would undoubtedly have crashed over the embankment and down into the j g-ullv. a drop of at least 60ft. The consequences would probably have been disastrous. CONDUCTOR'S THRILLING VERSION. Conductor William Alexander Donald, of Arcadia Road, £psom. who wae in charge of the car. gave some thrilling details of the accident. He said that he was in the centre of the car collecting fares when a violent jolt threw him off his balance, at the Jame time pitching ; the passengers in every direction. AH 1 he knew was that there were and the car swung violently round and crashed into the wall. He saw Driver Green recover his balance and seize the , brakes, which he worked vigorously, bat the whole thing was over m a few seconds. Consequently his efforts were of little avail. MOMENTS OF SUSPENSE. The scene inside, added Donald, was one of passengers huddled together on the floor. One man was stretched out in a, de&d faint, while other* were clinging to the framework of the car. Practically oil showed traces of shock. i Conductor Donald rushed out of the car and down the street to summon a medical man, and was successful_ in securing the -services of Dr. Murray. A number of the passerurers were advised by the doctor to return home instead of continuing their way to business, and one lady was given first aid tot abrasion Fortunately no glass 'had been smashed, and this fact undoubtedly was another stroke of luck for those in tie oA. By about 10 o'olock the tramway officials had succeeded in divertiifcr ihe waiting care on to the outward-bound line, which was not affected in any way by the accident. Tie track where the car left the rails bore traces of having been torn up by the gear box, but, the metal rails were undamaged. The car itself, after ploughing its way across the road and \rp on to the footpath, incidentally knocked atray two lumps of the stone wall. En route across the footpath tie front wheels sank an inch or two into the sidewalk, and this had a slight retarding effect upon the speed of the car. In its career the car fortunately missed other traffic, and if there were any pedestriane in the vicinity t-hev were alert enough to keep out of the tray. Both motorman and conductor escaped injury. injury, although Driver Green tras swans off his feet. By good fortune he clutched on to the handraiL For a moment' he was suspended in mid-air as the car dived to the right. By the time he got back on the platform the car was mating straight for the waiL The car was damaged most underneath, the mechanical portion being broken asunder as if matchwood. PASSENGERS GET PANICKY. According to a. passenger the car iris travelling down the incline h-art tray between the t-op of the street and Grafton Bridge, when there wag a ban? as if the trolley pole had come detached, aiyd then the car lurched in front. There was a series of bumps, and after travelling about ir? own ienrti the car left the line and suddenly snnncj round at right angles to the lines at a perilous incline. The pa.*ser«?ers expected the tram to overbalance, bu; it hit the curbing of the footpath, and this had the donWe effect of righting and arresting it. There was more o r less a panic inside, 1 assengers hung on to one another, but hardly had time to scream. One Udv collapsed, but. nobody appeared # to be hurt. One passenger tried to get up rrom nis srat when the car left the line and was lurching perilously, but a fellow male passenger was hkngrog on to him for grim death, and this < femi to have hern the general condition inside. The enr left t W line .hont t ho same time a» an outward-bound car passed. AX EXCEPTION. A tale of the presence of mind displayed by an old lady of 70 is told by .Mr. Y\\ A. Donald, the conductor of the car. At the first jolt the lady dropped down on tie floor, and the conductor afterwards. *vs he helped her to rise. Inquired whether she had been hurt Sadly. "No,'' she said, "I just flopped dow n because I had an idea wnat was coming, ami I did not want to be thronn over, or to get hit with.broken glass." THREE PERSONS INJURED. Thrive persons only were inj'.'rpd in the a-ccidfnt. according to Mr. VValklate, manager of the Tramway Company, and in none of these cases were the injuries ?e\ erf. Names couid not be ascertained th's afternoon, as none of the iffjured were taken to hospital, but went instead to their homes after being attended by , a. medical man. The police as yet have ( not receiTed detail oi the occurrence, j