A RAILWAY SENSATION.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 763, 11 March 1910, Page 7

A RAILWAY SENSATION.

THE ALLEGED "BAGGING" AT TAIHAPE. MATTEePiN HANDS OF POLICE.Keferrihg to the case of alleged'"fagf giug" at 'i'aihape, the folldwjng appeared in yesterday's Wabganiii "Chronicle":—• "What appears to have been an abdmir*- - able, case of 'ragging' occurred at'. Taihape in the. early how's of Tuesday lhdr'hi'ng last. Arthur Annabell,- a ydnng'mah" of about nineteen years of age; and. ti son of Mr. John Annabell, 1 of, Wanganuf,was the victim,- and he.is how an,inmate' of the Wanganui .Hospital,- suffering severely from the effects of the frightful ordeal through which he has-passedV Young Annabell started work in the Tai'.hape sheds' about five or six weeks- ago; and it is alleged that he has been sulk jected to. systematic dragging' of a m'ofrf or less violent! 'Kind right up to IM iif&g of the outrage,- which'lias sent him, badly burned, to a hospital lied:- One of"the 'pleasantries' to which. lie was. treated, M the shape of. a piece' of iron 'or some 1 other hard substance hurled at his head, left him with a 'disfiguring mark 'just': above his nose, but he appears to' hav? taken this as one of the 'jokes' to which the,'hew ehum' in,the service:must per 1 -' force .submit. 'He came in to see US' a' few days ago,' said his mother to a representative of the 'Chronicle,' • 'and as soon as I saw him I noticed the mark on his face. 'He passed it off as the outcome of : skylarking','^but we now know the iond.jOt "skylarking" he' has had to put up 1 with: Mrs, -Annabell ■■ had - just, returned from a.visit to the hospital, and she wad naturally distressed at the condition in' which, she had foiind her' son. 'He is indeed badly burned,' she said. 'His.arms and hands' aiid face are in a. terrible coh* dltibn,, and it will be weeks before h* will be .fit ,to leave the. hospital.'- 'Yes,' added.Mr. Annabell, .'and'.it will be forth.nate ; it he coines out without pernianeriJ dishgureme'nf.-everi if there, are hot even' more" serious consequences.'.. "Asked as to the nature of the incident) which had resulted in his son's so'riotrf injury, Mr. Annabell said that Arthur'* story was; that he had been at worE throuaoiit Monday night; he (Mr. Annabell) .had reason to believe, that Arthur had been continuously on duty for fourteen hours',' and that early oh Tuesday morning, while engaged,.in cleaning an i engine; he must haveifalien asleep.i: He was, apparently, lying- down near, thd etigine,-ahd while in thjs, condition waste,safuratcd with kerosene',' was thrown oiier him and ignited. Startled into wakeful* hess,,he did his best to.free himself from the flaming.,waste, but before he could do this he Had been frightfully burned about the arms, hands, and face. 'And the men who were there, and, who saw the lad' 3 terrible predicament, made no attempt tohelp him,-'-.added Mr. Annabell, iridig- - nanny. 'I am, fold that they merely-' stood by and. sheered at him when he 1 called to. them, for help; and that even when he. pleaded with them to get.him something to. ease the terrible pain,'-'the;' merely, gave hihi some oil to rub on, leaving him to go; cbatloss and' unaided, in search of a doctor, and that, too, on a frosty indrnihg, wheh to' be out in that condition must have been torture.* ' "' Eag'ging,' wo have reason bp believe, is far too prevalent, in .the railway service, and the Minister"might find time be* tweeh his bahquetings to give" the maffei his serious attention: If we', are rightly informed, it is only a few months' sine* that a couple of. men were quietly dis-. missed from the Wahgahiii-sheds' for hav-: ing exploded a dynamite cap in dangerbui. proximity- to a 'new chum' employee, aid instances of minor ruffianism- are. freely talked' about by the .railway; men them"-! selves; This Taihape, incident, we art glad td know;- has been. placed iii 'tK« hands of the police for investigation,. sf; that it, will not be quietly smothered b'j a hole-and-corner Departmental .inquiry. Young", Annabell's story must either K proved or disproved. ■:■ ■'-.- ..'

"On inquiry -.fit . tile ' hospital,. we learned .. that the" injured • riiah is pro--, grossing as well as can be expected. Both arms anil part of his face.: have beer severely".burnt, but his condition is iitf considered daugerpus,. although-it will b< some consider'ablo time,-' if all goes wel'' ind iib 'serious symptoms supervene, bo fore. he. is "able" to leave the.hospital"