SPEED OF TRAM CARS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 105, 27 January 1908, Page 8

SPEED OF TRAM CARS.

AN AUCKLAND CASE. ; INTERESTING EVIDENCE. ."LIKE A GUV J-AWps- EXHIBITION." / (JIT TEI;EGn.\ni—SrECIAL CORKKSrOXDENT.) . Auckland, January 20. A caso was heard at tho Police Court yesterday ' beforo Air. R. W. Dyer, S.M., in which ia' motorman, James Low, was charged •with furiously driving''down Pitt-Street on Christmas Evo.' On tho dato'named, Low's car. collided at a great speed with ; a cart which was being driven across the line. ' In giving evidence, Arnold liaro, engineer, said ho. saw the' car coming down fully a hundred yards abbvo the stopping place at Wellington; Stroet.. Tho car was going unusually fast.. ,: . -. Tho Magistrate: Could you form any idea' as'to;the rate the .car was travelling at?, V Witness : .1 think it would bo going ovor twenty miles an, hour. .' I noticed ,tho motor-' .man's hand on. tho controller, and, I think, [ori tho emergency brake, also. Then I saw the.wheels skid, and I know the emergency brake was on. Why didn't.thp car stop then? . The wheels skidded.' . If tho emergency brake had acted properly ■the car should have stopped beforo it reached tho.curve?.,; ... ' » . With proper brakes,the-car would have stopped. '■ ■ , ' AVitness, continuing, said the wheels were skidding a hundred ..yards beforo the car, reached,the cart; Cars generally mado a fair pace down this-incline.

Cross-examined, witness said it surprised him that tho car did not jump tho rails at the curve. He did not see. any other brako applied. , The car -went on for another fifty yards beforo, it camo'to a standstill, tho emergency brako being on. ' Georgo Hartnett said ho had intended to catch this car, but it was going, at. such a /fearful 1 rato that he thought tho motorman had no intention" of. stopping,and ho started to niovo oil. The car. was travelling ■ very much'quicker'than usual, and ho thought tho speed \yas 'unsafe.,''. ' . . Robert Thomas Reid, .grocer, said, the car was : going so fast that ho. thought it had "bolted." Tho , paco was furious. Tho trolley polo ca.'mo off tho wire before tho collision; Sparks .were flying, and the women were calling out.' "It was like a Guy Fawkes exhibition","'said .witness. In ; cross-examination', witness said ho thought tho car went for f twclvo or fifteen yards after tho 'accident.

• t Thomas 31'Kewan, 'butcher, of Pitt Street, said his attention was drawn to tho car, " which flushed, past at a great rate." . Tho motorman" had his ' hand .oil the ratchet brake. Thri.car was travelling at three times tho ordinary, speed,, and ho thought' it had got away

' 'William.'Strachi'n, 'butcher, described the speed as' " lightniiig pace," or, threo-times as fast as ordinary pace, and unsafe. This, closed the case for the prosecution. Mr. M'.Veagh, counsel for tho defence, directed his ".evidence towards proving the inefficiency of tho brakes' on tho car concerned. Ho said that it had a bad history in -that respect.. . ... ' ' ' The Magistrate -.' Then it had no right to. bo, on the lino. . " , Mr. M'Vcagli: Tlie brakes, havo always been-troublesome, j ' . Mr. Sharpies, counsel for tho Tramway Company: I object' to that.insinuation being made. " •

Mr. M'Veagh went , on to recito half a dozen instances when this car had been "reported," and 'said it had recently beer, dismantled.

Defendant said ho had been driving for t ten 1 \pionths. .'When he "tried to s app!y. the ratchet brake-on the day in, question it would not act, and then ho put on tho emergency. Ho so]mdc<l tho gong twice, and applied sand on tho rails: The car was,.not going twentyfive miles an. hour.' The wheels locked when he applied 'tlio emergency,''and' when ho struck the dray the'car travelled for ,about half its own length. ; . In reply to tho Magistrate, witness said the emergency brake would act promptly on a dry or a very wet rail, but it would not prevent skidding s oh a greasy'rail. \ In 'cross-examination, witness said that when a motorman found thero was something, wrong with his car ho reported the matter and took tho car to tho barn. He did not know .that the car had a bad history, when he took, it out. All tho reports about bad, brakes were made after tho, accident. Scrgoant Hendry: Yes, by members of tho 'with a full knowledge that you wer'o liable to a prosecution. Did you-' consider when you came round tho corner that the road was being repaired ? _ Witness: I saw I had.a clear run to Wellington Street. 'Ho ; 'added that; he let tho car "coast-"for twenty iyards or forty yards to Grey Street before ho tried to apply, tlio ratchet brake. The emergency brake' was applied at' Vincent' Street; Why. did you let it go so. far? . That is always done; Is tho time-table so framed that you have to go so fast as to incur the risk' of\ smashing people up? , . ' . Not exactly. The time-table is fast, way.Were you on timo? Yes. Witness' further said ho took tho car to the depot subsequently, and was given another: The rear . bralto was used in Wellesley Street. . Three or four'pther witnesses stated that tho brakes .on this particular car had failed to' act properly oh other occasions. His Worship remarked that all tho complaints wero mado after tho accident. ' . Mr. Dyer, in giving judgment, said -all tho evidence appeared to be similar for the tiefence. It had beon established that the car was driven at a furipus'pace. That was admitted. Tho only point was whether tho defendant could havo dono any moro than he did to--stop, tho speed of the car. Was it his fault or not? It.was not a question of damages, or anything else against the Tramways Company. It was, simply a question against tho individual motorman. Gould tho defendant liavo prevented the excessive speed if ho Jind exercised, reasonable and ordinary care? Could ho have done moro than a reasonable nnd sensible man would liavo done? Ono witness for tho prosecution said ho knew the emergency brake was applied because tho car skidded for 100 yards or ■150 yards. There was no doubt tho car was going at a furious pace, but he was of opinion that tho defendant had dono what he could havo been reasonably expected to do under tho circumstances; : It appeared to him that there was a jamming of tho ratchet brake, which- caused' tlio furious -rate of speed. Ho did not think the defendant could help it, or havo done morn under tho circumstances, therefore ho acquitted him.

"What'tho'Lamplighter Saw" is the title of a good story told by the "Melbourne Age." A lamplighter named Osborne,' whilst on his rounds about 5 o'clock a.m., had occasion to cross the dam in Marsden Street. When about midway his attention was arrested by'the appearance of the body of a female in the water, closo to ilie edgo of tho dam. To make sure he gave the object a poke with a stick which ho carried for the purpose of turning down tho lights in the street lamp, and being satisfied' in his own mind that a dreadful tragedy had taken place, hurried,off with all despatch to the police station a few hundred yards away to roport the matter. A short distance from the supposed body, on the side of tho dam, ho had seen a woman's hat and aomo clothing. In tho courso of ,i few minutes tho pofico were on tho spot, along with tho lamplighter; but no dead body could bo 3eon, nor hat nor clothes. It took the polico five hours to confirm the story. Tho "body" was that of a young woman who v/as merely taking an early morning bath, and seeing tho lamplighter approaching sho lay down in the water face downwards, and remained still so that she might not be observed. " Tho prod in tho ribs with tho gas man's stick nearly made hor give the show away, but as soon as the man with the stick had departed for the polico .station, sho quietly got out of the- water, donned her clothes, and was far away by the time f.iio constables arrived on the sccue with their „ grappling itona,