HYDE RAILWAY SMASH

Evening Star, Issue 25003, 23 October 1943, Page 6

HYDE RAILWAY SMASH

JURY INSPECTS CARRIAGES

When the hearing of the charge of mausiauguter agaui.st Jolm t'acrick Aipuoiiaus Uoreoi.ui, uriver of the passei.ger train wiucu was ueraiieu near Jijue on dune 4, was resumed in cue bupreme Court yesterday auernoou, tne Uruwn Prosecutor, -ur J', I>. Adams, sam tiiat questions ror tne defence nail raised mo condition oi tne carnages on tne train, tie wouiu ask, tliereioro, tliat an opportunity oe given tor the jury to inspect tne actual steel ear in tins tram ami specimens exactly similar to the other two types iu use on tlie train. Mr E. J. Anderson, for tlie accused, agreed to tlie arrangement. Mr Justice Kennedy made an order for the jury .to inspect the carriages during tlie afternoon and said that at a later stage they would probably have an opportunity to see the engine and relics of tne train in the Hillsiue Workshops. 'iiie greater part of the afternoon was occupied in hearing evidence of passengers about the speed of the train before the accident. The following gave evidence: Anne Sinclair, married woman (Wedderburn), Margaret Hansen, married woman (Cromwell), George Albert Hansen, soldier (Cromwell), Charles Alexander Woods, road construction worker (Hornby), Dorothy Sarah Mary Crombie, married woman Bannockburn), Harry Lindsay, station manager, now 'an aircraftman (Kokonga), and Stanley Eric Little, shepherd (Alexandra). Albert Stanton, railway locomotive foreman, of Dunedin, said he had inspected the engine at the scene of the derailment. The regulator of the controls was closed, and the reverse lever was in gear. The Westinghouse brake handle was in running position. This indicated that the engine was drifting at the time of the accident, and that there was no steam on. He found the bottom half of a beer bottle in the cab of the engine, but he could not smell anything in it. nor was there any label on the bottle. The court adjourned until 9.30 a.m. on Monday-, when the jury will visit the Hillside Railway Workshops to inspect the engine and wreckage of the train.