THE RAILWAY DISASTER.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 185, 30 April 1908, Page 5

THE RAILWAY DISASTER.

A RECORD CALAMITY. TERRIBLE STORIES OF THE SCENE.' (From Our Australian Correspondent.) : ■; - Sydney, April 22. ''The terrible disaster which -has occurrcd on tho Victorian Railway has dwarfed ■ every other topic into insignificance. The newspapers devote pages • to; the harrowing . story, for in its long list of dead and injured, this .'is■ the worst railway accident; that:-has ever occurred in Australia. • . The 'Ballarat train for .Melbourne, which ordinarily, leaves at 7.15 p.m., was crowded with, passengers as it ran out of the Ballarat station, on Easter 'Monday- night. It usually consists of eight carriages, but on this occasion) because of. the '''holiday';- traffic, it had ton carriages, all uncomfortably crowded. Among the passengers woro several card parties,-, many who whiled away the travelling: hours by. singing; arid at least one wedding; party. -Having arrived at Braybrook Junction—or, as it is also called, Sunshine — at 10:30 p.m., the train, owing to its length,: had' to bo moved forward a second time in - order.- .that some .of the'■ pascngers-in the overlapping.; carriages should .alight at the platform.' Then, when. tlie. train had just begun ; .to -move out of (the station, the : dis-aster-came, so swiftly that, as one eyewitness savs, in three minutes it was. all over. ; A special train,' which had left Bendigo at 6.40 p.m.,: also crowded with pas-'sengers,-'and-drawn bv two engines, ran.into the -station' and crashcd - into the rear carriages of tho Ballarat train as.it was slowly. . moving away.:

CARRIAGES PULVERISED. Tho scene was an 'awful one The impact , came with-tho suddenness of a 'clap of than-. dor. Tho;. first-,..0f .-the - great; ,".A.A.' loco-. ' .motives, in', front 'of ;• the ; .-Bendigo -■ Gpecial crashed through thb rear carriages of.-the Ballarat traiii/as easily, as if the, thick. riEid iron>and woodwork were .brittle ao eggshells. To the few.who stood appalled and.paralysed with'fear, and watched its death-dealing progress,: .the - monster-, still seemed to. bp. ploughing onwards .moments-after the col-; ■ lision. \First one carriage, then a second, and (then !a ; third, .was - smashed,, , tossed oft '; the rails, and pulverised under its tons of. steel 'and -its.pitiless wheels;, At every_ioot . of-its.onward course the.life was crushed out of ' some poor holiday-maker, or a broken,, mangled ,body-.was angrily , tossed aside in its last, agony. . '•'• ' ~ ~ • - How many .people were hidden beneath the ' - mass of' wreckage nobody, knew'.- Some said a dozen, others a hundred.. The wounded were hauled;.out, and , tho surgeons set_ to -work on'the'bleak,,open platforms to inject morphia, to set broken limbs, . and, to bind :• up gaping :wounds. . Many , were' found to bo dead. ;■Others died before tho'doctors completed their 'attention. As the bodies lay side bv side to a number, that seemed in the,circumstances to defy counting, .they presented a' pitiable sight,-r -.. .. A;-. - i , )'.■'• /As feverish; working (railway ; inen and others tore apart the wreckage, body after body was . discovered buried beneath. ,' The last body was. not unearthed until > 5 a.m., or live hours after . tha -'catastrophe. The, ill . r.ews - - 'had travelled-apaco, and scores or. tearrul people, with: suspense by the knowledge' or. thought that, relatives had travelled;bv - : the v ill-fatedStrain,-.gathered- near ; the \ station,' and watched , with ha_rrowed ieelings as the clearing :work proceeded. Xhe cries; and .lamentations of those,. whose .parents, • Ib'rothers, or, children had gone out ivitn gay hearts' to - spend-^a 1 holiday. \ and. .wero now to b» carried home mangled and dead, were, enough to l shake tho-heart, of-the stoutest. ;No one; u;ho' was ; a witness, to'the-occur-rences following .upon.the accident,'will ever .; forget, the scene. - The nAgnitude .of the dis- ■ aster; was such-that tho;, rescuers could devote only to 'mitigation of; the ■ sufferings of ■' the-j injured.; ■3. ho dead jvere, taken'out "and 'laid upon; the; platform.Some 1 were'along'the kerb, parallel with .the lino; others had ; their, feet to the train; and; sonic ■* were f Carried "out, and-lay'aloiig.ithe wall for some'- hours. - 'After the ; accident 17. dead ; bodies wore lying on the : " down " ■ side of ' the platform. 'They had ; ; been, taken from the debris'arid carried across'the rails and . ..left there. As 'each was-:laid out, a bearer .put; a .hand over,'tho .heart,of .tho -prostrate ■'''' body;.; but, .in; these cases there' was no- re- ' Bponsivo beat. In most ;of them tlie look upon the face, and the ghastly nature of the .. injuries. , told tho tale so' ; . emphatically , that '. no" confirmation ~was, ne'cossarj\ As- these " bodies lay. there,, men. and .women; picked .'their wav'through them,.in- some cases lookJn'j into-tjie 'st'll.fa o6s ) but in most instances passing v;ith averted'eyes.

/. -V, HOVf .TWp WOMEN DIED. j- One .young woman, lay near the■ north end of tho platform. She,*- was. dressed .in ■ white, and'a-hatbox..was'besideher./- The box was torn-asunder, a handkerchief was placed over her face, and she lay'there .witli;the,sereno ' ook of a 'person who, had: died• in bed. Blood .'tozinj*, from ...her chcst showed ;how she had mot'- her.-.death. . Hours -later a -constable scorched lier for means of .'identification. Thero was. noname-'on..it-he-'hatbox, v and neither-', letters < nor.. papers were. in her, pes- . session".\ > There' were : a few j trinket?.'. Thq watch, had oiever stopped, vlt showed : twenty minute's to J thrco. "Amidst' the ruins s within sight -of the passers-by. was ;tnb dead .body of an elderly lady.;'.-. She had died almost as shesat.;in.! the carriage. The. recumbent attitude,, with;,the grey tairs resting, .upon tho back :of what .had .once been . a seat, showed how swiftly'death.had come. .Within ..a ' few feet of "her, on the' other, pidoa man was;being' taken from the. ruins. His cries wero agonising; but in him.thero wa3 .life; 1 and .-while there ' was- life thero was Tho.shattered timbers- were put from above,''below, and around him,; and' he was lifted out.. There .was .'a:. ; knot, of .people about,.and as.he % was lifted out they gave a..slight; cheer..'. It -had a weird sound, amid tho surroundings.; but 'it; came from men' who had-' their hearts and jt-heir. minds on' one thing—to save-life.:if;they. could.'. ■ Tho . second-class'-' cafriagc in ..which ' most

of passengers! were' killed", had been _tnrn6d; into "a deathtrap by t|ie. collapsing of ; !its'.sides ' and tho compartments, ; which wciro" splintered by \the terrific' force ,of ■ the engines behind. Amongst them-and between them were crushed tho passengers in a twisting, aiid writhing' mass of iron arid 'timber ; and when the trains stopped/this mass of men.-,'and women' . end' wreckage had been pressed arid wedged against ,-the end wall of the carriage. How many of ;them were alive

then, and how, many could .have been saved

if instant and satisfactory, means/for their rescue bould'vhave boen'-'uridertn.keri, 1 will never be known; but it wat hours before the piled-up wreckage could be , removed with the primitive and ineffectual. implements at hand. A r'abbiter's old 'ase, ' hastily borrowed from a; camp near.':the; statioh; did ! 'go6d''service format'• few'minutes 'till the!-handles' broke. 'After'that there could''be no cutting away beams.'. All had;to be!'levered ,and- forced up—a work;-of v^slow ;l ''difficulty. Men; who could be plainly sfeen ' pinned to tho floor of the carriage at 11' o'clock, were .still pinned there two'iiours-.later," screaming with pain and imploring the rescuers to'put them out of their agiijiy- and have'done with it. There was alSo' 'a/ lights,' of tandagesr of of water,''-'and - mugs— of qverj-thing which was c§s6ntial to the rescue work. . - - . 'i r ' ■'

A ladv with dread arid fear in her heart came seeking her"husband•'eatty iri'the morning, boforeany <}f the faces had been cleaned. Hivstily, with trembling lirtjjs, she scanned the .''grisly .rows/'and,-as she'thought, : found no trace of tH&; one' slio had feared to find amongst the victims; With relief and happiness in her'heart, she went. away. Later in the day, Hie/husband being still missing, her son, a bright; manly lad.of about 14, chmc to Sp'encer Street. ,'By. then his father had : beconic., rccognik?,ble.' With a cry of anguish the boy identified his parent,'\and then, assisted by A kindly policeman, staggered ouV or the' '%aitihg-room on to 'the platform,, be,_ grievous sobs, brnks tlse truth'to his, relatives. Wholesale .'disaster. l '' overtook Mrs. Lily Huntingdon,'of'-Footscray, who was accompanied .by her two. children. She was ' seriously injured' herself, and when she could inquire abouftjier children, she learned that ono was dead, "and the other missing. '11 iT "jO ■ ;v '

HER MARRIAGE DAY. ,Ono of tho saddest stories told, by tho passengers was tho death of a bride and the of her husband. Mr. D. Court, of East Molbourne, another passenger, who related it, said, " I did not hear their names. They woro married to-day, and the wrecked car was smothered with confctti, thrown by a crowd of friends who came to see'them off. Tho bride was shockingly injured, and when she was lifted from the ,ruins said, ; :'Oh, -do not lift me!' She, was taken to the platform, .but was beyond all aid,', and : died a few. minutes after. Tho bridegroom was also badly injured." The couplo were a i ; Mr. and Mrs. Morris. ' Mr. Court said:—"l; was on the Ballarat, train when tho collision occurred. 1 ..was . . thrown across the carriage, and scrambled : out. .Tho scene was beyond description. With others wo started on the ; .work, of rescuo first. I got out a /little' boy, whose head was through tho broken roof! of ■one of tho • carriages, but was _ very little hurt. His mother had. a. sprained ankle. When we could seo what had happened wo found that a number had .been killed, while others wero nearly dead. Another man was lying under the timbers, pinned down, and so dreadfully injured that ho asked his 1 rescuers to leavo him alone, as ho could not stand the iagony. There wero two young . ladies, sisters, who were found in tho cars -. dead. ."AH around us as we were at work people were groaning and moaning, and when tho carriages caught -'fire it was worse. I was taking drinks to some of thoso whom wo got out, and tho sight mado mo sick, , while others fainted." 'Mr. A. Jackson, a cyclist, who was on the Ballarat train, had, with several friends, got in at 1 Ballarat, and they put their bicycles in the van. When they got .to Sunshino and found tho train was delayed, they went back to .the van from tho carriage which they were ■ in, arid, asked the guard whether they might have. their, bicycles to : ride to Melbourne. They ' then found that the train was about 'to : go, and went back to: tho carriage again. They were hardly seated when a dreadful .smash threw , everybody in tho carriage one on top of the'other. Jackson and his friends, finding they wero unhurt, scrambled out, and wont ,back towards the van,'to get their, bicycles, and ride,into Melbourne. As they went back,.they found tho . rear of the train, ' a mass of; splinters, mingled with: dead 'and dying people, and, on' looking for, their bicyclcs, found everyone of thorn in the ; air, hanging from the smoke-stack of tho Bendigo,engine. Tho engino had,gone right in through the back of the van, and scattered all the rest of tho contents over the right-hand, platform. IN THE BENDIGO TRAIN. "It was a fearful experience," said Mr. G. Symonds, of Ballarat, w;ho wa3 travelling by--the Bendigo train, " though in our. train we escaped lightly;' Tho Bailarat train was just moving from Sunshine station for Melbourne when the Bendigo train dashed : into •tho rear of it. Tho guard was just stepping into tho van when he saw, the approaching disaster," and .just had time to jump clear. Four Sunshine harvester men also had timo to spring clear, when tho engino of tho Bendigo. train crashed into tho. van, and toro through'it and the nest two carriages. The van and the two carriages were smashed to pieces. I.was in a forward carriage and felt nothing beyond a, severo jolt, and all of us ••who' were-.uninjured went to tho rescuo 'of those buried ■ jjencath wreckcd carriages. Tho; groaning and ; moaning of tho unfortunate people wero heartrending. I saw fully, a dozen dead bodies. ";■ r '' / - "The 1 ; disaster, occurred about":twenty minutes' to ; 11 .o'clock. Tho train was .packed, "and was an unusually largo one. It was a.■ terrible task getting' tho -injured from' under the, wreckage, and . when 1 loft they did not know; how many bodies lay beneath. I camo on in tho Ballarat train, which was constituted as: before'.the i disaster, with the exception of the two carriages and the van. Wo havo . brought on allot of the wounded bnt-thcro are maiiy.: others still to arrive." Great and .resource' were displayed oy. volunteers both from amongpassengers and residents of Braybrook," who came and' toded at the work of relief and rescuo. Tho sublimity'.'of 'bravery was'shown by the-in-jured; peoplo.thraiselvcs.' " f Don't waste time' ,ovor me," said, ono'woman;' . " thero. aro plenty worse ofF." Slio.'had bofcli lcgs brokenj' arid must 'havb. been'in fearful pain; ,but' the death, groans of those. further .-in'' amongtho • wreckage had'! awakened her and courage together.' With his right- foot crushed and pinned down to tho carriago .floor underneath .tons' of wreckage,, a young in an halt'hung,, half clung to 1 the side of the tram for an'hour and a quarter. Never once during all 'that • time did lie whimper, not ovon when tho rescue.party, while levering up tho debris with an old .rail crushcd-his foot again with'tho, lover. : .•./ ' ' ; " • SAVED HER SISTER'S LIFE. ; - ; Right at the bottom of the. second-class carriage were found the bodies of two women. The uppermost ' one was dead. On her body , had come , tho full crushing weight of tho splintered walls.' The' woman beneath was alive, though terribly- injured. Thoy .woro: sisters, and the. younger one, as soon as consciousness returned, wailed piteously for tho other, i guessing what, had happened when sho'failed to come.' But the elder sister had saved the younger one's life.' Her-body, had formed a ■buifor againstthe .crushing of the timbers. .A young Englishman, vrho was to have'been married soon, ~ was found among .the dea'd.' Ho was crushed, beyond all recognition, but in his- pockot was found a letter from his .sweetheart,-.which served to identify hi'm. He Had gono to Ballarat for. Easter, and was to havo returned on' the Tuesday. The letter from'his sweetheart asked him to change'his plans and-roturii'on Monday night,'so* that ,ho might take . her out on Tuesday. , Ho obeyed, and came to his death.

•Sorrow;stalked;on overy hand in Melbourna that day. Flags flying at ■ ■ half-mast' at . Spencer: Street, railway, offices told a tale which was emphasised by the stream of griefstricken .people who sadly marched into the temporary , morgue at the station. Down' at the. city morgue. :a. crowd of people almost heartbroken with dread uncertainty.'sought to seo the bodies which had been taken there. Over 1 the hospitals thero hung an unusuai gloom, for' in all.of them savagely crushed and mutilated patients wero making a ii"ht for, their lives,:; while their husbaiMs, wives; and parents besought nurses 'and doctors to tell if there were any hope. ; Particularly sad oiroumstrcccs- pro associated with the death-of two young ladies 'who vrero. numbered tiic victims of ■the disaster. Thev v."." -h;kr Alice 'LafFan and Miss Ada .[i.-fiVr, if Richmond. 'Tin wcio ."the daughters , of. the Jr.Lr .V.r. . .1:.-, J. - ; T#flanv guard on the. rail-.-. a>ho \/-v, '-".i an. accident at Hawijibrn . i;i Jim", j?;0 Three-members of the family, have thus iv-t their lives iii railway accidents. .The works of Mr. M'Kay,.harvester implement!maker, are. practically within a stone's throw of Bray brook station. Many of the employees arc former residents of Ballarat, and a number of these took advantage of .the holidays to visit friends in that city- They returned on Monday ovening so as 'to-be .in readiness to start work next morning, but only too many were destined never more to play their part in life. ... HOW THE COLLISION OCCURRED. . The; approach of death was not entirely unobserved. - looking out from a carriago window, a number of young girls who were aboard the.Ballarat train heard a rattlo, .and saw the engine sparks of tho'Bendigo Special tearing down upon them through the partial', darkness, and threatening' immediate annihilation. They tried the door. To their.dismay it was looked. The paralysing spectacle was shared by another. A woman who stood upon the Braybrook Junction platform caught a glimpso of the rushing locomotives ■when they were, still distant a few chains. Distraught with horror she buried her faco in her hands arid rushed into 'the station building to hide from the approaching calamity. .

Tho collision occurred through the Bendigo train running against the signals and over the points. The, driver, Milburn, states that when lie saw that tho signals, were against him he applied the Westinghouse brake, lmt it refused to act, and he. then reversed his engine, too late to avert tho smash.' The engine, when examined next morning, w«3 found to have been reversed, as stated by the . driver, but it is also stated by the Chief Commissioner, Mr. Tait, that tho Westinghouso brake was then examined [ also, and found in good working order.

Milburn, when he saw what had happened, and tho wreck and ruin strewn everywhere round liis powerful engine, was reduced to. a condition of despair: Ho was' asked if ho had been hurt in the collision. " No." he roplied, "but it would have been better' for mo lind I been killed." INTERVIEW WITH DRIVER. The "Ago" has tho following interview with Milbnrn. He states that- when approaching Sunshine Station he noticed that tho signals, were against him. Ho promptly applied his brakes, but found that the brakes would not act. It was a Westinghouse brake, which had never failed to his knowledge before. As a matter of fact, the brake had been used in pulling up at all stations at which the train had stopped on the. way from Bendigo, and acted promptly on each occasion. Directly the brake failed tho driver stated ho reversed the engine, and got fujl steam in tho opposite direction, but .the _ train did not respond immediately. At this timo tho Ballarat train was not distinguishable in Sunshino Station, or, at all events, he did not see 'it ahead. The train continued to make way, and at length ho did seo' the light of tho Ballarat train, but was porfectly powerless to prevent the impact. Ho was considerably bruised when tho collision took place, and was unable to realise until afterwards what had occurred. Fireman Tomlinson, who was with Driver Milburn on tho first engino of the Bendigo train, was present when Milburn made this statement to our representative, and corroborated it in every detail. He says that every effort was made to stop the train within the-signals, but for some unaccountable l'oason tho brakes refused to act. Both the driver and the-firoman pointed, when making tho assertions, to the gear of the engine, stating that its position indicated that ■ the locomotive had been reversed immediately prior to the collision.

The driver and fireman of the second engine on the Bendigo train confirmed tho statement that tho brake was put hard down on the-first engine, as far as they could judge, but they state their own engine had no brake i power that applied, as wlioro there aro two engines on a train, one behind tho other,, the first regulates the brake power, and the second becomes merely a . vehicle in the train. ' ■,

ARBITRATION COURT.

." 5 BREACHES IN AUCKLAND, i ' ■■ •••;" (BY TELEGRAPH. —MESS ASSOCIATION.) ' Auckland, April 28. • /' The sittings of the Arbitration -Court were begun this morning before Mr. Justice Sim. A number of cases of breaches of award were hoard, arid fines to £5 were inflicted. The Auckland Carpenters' and Joiners' Union sought;to havo their award extended to includo the Colonial Sugar Refining Company. Mr. Grosvenor appeared for tho Sugar Company, and objected to being included. Mr. Millar (manager for the company) said hp had a number of carpenters continuously omplpyed.at a wage of £3 a week. For casual labour-the award rate was paid. The--Court directed the parties, to hold a conference with a view to, arriving at i a settlement, intimating that the case ivould •bo called again later on. •

. A MATTER OF OVERTIME. ' 'A, TAKING A SICK MAN'S. PLACE.. . Auokland, April 29. The Arbitration Court continued its sittings to-day, tho bulk of tho cases concerning broaches of awards. The Waihi Gold Mining Company, Ltd., woro cited for failing to pay overtime to,a,number of moil in Oetobor. .. 1 Mr.. Shanaghan, for the Labour Department, gavo sovoral instances of men who had worked 12 hours a day and others 16 hours a day at the Waikino battery. He'fexplained that at the timo there was an epidemic of influenza. Many men were affected, and •when they did not turn up to. take their shifts other men ,wero instructed to continue their,work'. 'Tlie only trouble was that they woro not paid at tho rato of time' and a. quarter for time worked in excess of eight hours. • ' Mr. Tonks said that, in view of tho outbreak of influenza, tho Only other thing the company could have dono, was to tako on other hands. It was not easy to take on casual labourers for a ■ shift or oven for a week, - and tho result would therefore have been that the sick men would have had to be discharged in order that' tho men could get wlmH; they wero seeking—permanent employment. • What the men in (picstion did was to work 12 hours, and received the pay of the men who wero sick. The company derived no, benefits thoy paid, for three men's work to two men. It had been a recognised 'thing for moil':to' take_ a sick mato's shift in this way. - Thoy'received his pay, and the result: was that tho place was-kept open for the sick' man.'. > ' His Honour said that, before deciding on the case, the Court should have some, information: as, to the practice, and directed the .parties to confer with a viow to arriving at somo agreement as to tho practice on the point : raised, and to report. to 'the Court. Tho case was accordingly ordered to stand down. ■ ' ~