TELEGRAMS.

Greymouth Evening Star, 27 May 1914, Page 5

TELEGRAMS.

the sleeper, were intact, the roof of-,|ho' sleeper resting on the floor o'f !th« postal car. . '• ;'

The passengers were pushed force of the collision into a small space at the end of the sleeper..' One side of the sleeper wife smashed clean out.,; p >

The steward of the sleeper was extricated from between the roof of the postal van and the floor of the sleeper. Ihe smoking carriage immediately behind the postal van kept to the rails and was undamaged. . : ; ■ " Mr. G. E. (Howard, who was .travelling with Stevens, stated that lie ftftW him thrown from his berth and hurled f .o the "'floor "sever* 1 .! feet away. The, slf-eper canw clown and pinned Stevens, who was lying face downwards to the fleer. - ■'; '' ' "L awoke in my berth and heard; a fear r ul crash," said Howard. "I was hurled right out, of the berth. Then a shocking sight met my eyes. • ■ The whole car was apparently smashed.un. The were thrown, in all. directions. It is impossible for inp to -"v exnetly how the accident occurred. All I know is that the smash came without warning. * ,;, . ,

HQW IT HAPPENED. GOODS TRAIN OVERTAKEN BY EXPRESS. THE WARNING CAME TOO LATE, AUCKLAND, This Day. The passengers in the rear of the train were' scarcely aware that anything; had happened until the express came to a standstill. lb is stated that the signals ' 4jr Whangamarino flag station, which' is in charge of a tablet porter, were clear for the Wellington train. ; As the express was flying by, the lights of a locomotive were seen on the siding. > '•"■*':' ,' : ■•<'"' Two short blasts on the whistle" sounded the signal for imminent danger'. The urgent signal was from an engine drawing the 400 tons good train , which had left Auckland at midnight, bound for Waikato. . • ' • .;■■'. ■ • Brakes were, applied, but the goods train had not quite cleared the maia line; in fact the porter, Donaldson, was sitting on the lever keepiiig- th» points open. . ; - : -.'' : Nothing could avert the collision. The express dashed into trucks Still on tho line and the engine, after tra-> veiling some distance, was th'rown over into a cjeek with several of the freight' train trucks on top of it. ' V. "'■*. The miil van took the impact of the rest of the express train. The sleeping car, which was next to the mail van, was telescoped for. more.,. than two-thirds of its length. The nl'&il van evidently had a casi upward arid struck the sleeper in a slanting direction. ■-:'; '.>\> How the throe- mail men, named Bristol. Scott and Clark, of Auckland, ; escaped is a miracle. .they heard' th» urgent danger signal, they ran to tl{e end of the forward end of the van. This saved their lives. -,' •*-" ■ The confiniTifT of the smash to the skepei can ontv be attributed to = the immediate amplication of the .brakes and the foot that the mail van struck r frlancirig blow. ' •• ■ The driver and the firemeii -were thrown clear^- . Porter Donaldson, who stuck to his lcv»r. had his >vrm broken. ' "> No naked liehts were taken neat the ••■lpep"]" until, time was given for all fh« illumiriatinq gas to escape. , ; ■ •T arid no Indies. GROANS OF THE INJURE*). THE RESCUE WORK. HAMILTON, This Day/ The night was bitterly cold and themajority of the passengers were asleep , when the accident occurred. "•: Soon the railway siding was alive with sleepy-eyed passengers groping about in the dark. Anxious enquiries were' made on ?very hand, and above the general clamour could be heard the groans of injured persons. There was their a general rush to the front of the train to render whatever assistance possible; The work of removing the engine did ttot take very long, a message having been sent meantime to Tuakau, fourteen miles away, this being the:nearest {dace at, which medical assistance was obtainable. Dr. Cheesemari drove to the scene as quickly'as possible. Grimshaw j and Swinson have both been operated on. The -former'fj - condition is very grave. He 1 is suffering from a broken pelvis and ether internal injuries.. He is a married man with a'wife and five children. He reJsides at Seatown, Wellington. . Swinson, who has.a fractured ihigh, is progressing welL/