RAILWAYMAN’S DEATH

Greymouth Evening Star, 19 November 1942, Page 8

RAILWAYMAN’S DEATH

| INQUEST AT GREYMOUTH

1 An inquest into the death at Grey- ! mouth on October 23, 1942 of Henry , Wright Buckingham, Inspector of I Permanent Way, Railways DepartI meat, who was struck by the.engine jot a train near the Greymouth Rail- '. way Station, was held yesterday 'afternoon, before the Coroner, Mr. G. iG. Chisholm. Senior Sergeant G. F. [Bonisch conducted the inquest for the 'police, and Mr. G. D. Smart (Station--1 master) represented the Railways DeIpartment. I Louis Norman Lower, Railways i Foreman of Works, gave evidence I that deceased was supplied with a I working schedule as to the times of I arrival and departure of trains at and I from Greymouth. Deceased was a man with perfect hearing at all times, mid was very vigilant in his work. Witness had been with deI ceased about half an hour before the j accident, and he did not mention at i any time that he was unwell or in any way perturbed. Allan Marshall, railways engine driver, stated that he was the driver of the passenger train from Rewanui io Greymouth on October 23, and the I train was running on time. After lie I had crossed the Cobden bridge crossi ing mid was entering the railways [yard he saw a man walking towards I the signal box. When witness first I saw him he would be about 40 or 150 yards away. His back was to- | wards witness, and he was walking i clear of the railway track. Alter I witness saw him he blew the whistle, 'and then applied the brake. The 'man did not appear to take any nojtice of the whistle, and still kept [walking on. When witness last saw him he was clear of the railway lines. Witness was on the left hand side of the engine, and as the train approached the man witness lost sight of him. The next thing witness know was that his fireman had called out lo the man on the line to “look out.” and just after that the fireman informed witness that they had struck the man. Witness ran the train into the station, and then went back to where the man was. Witness did not recognise him. He saw that the man had a wound in the back of his head, and that he was unconscious. The train would be travelling at about 10 miles an hour when entering the yard. Witness had been employed bv the Railways Department for' 29 years, and had been driving railway engines for 19 years.’ At the lime of the accident the weather was boisterous, and it was raining. As his train was entering the yard another train was travelling in the opposite direction, going towards Otira. There was a possibility that the man s attention was taken up by the train going out of the station. To the Coroner: The ’ man was walking on the track on the right hand side of the train. Witness was on the left hand or opposite side of the engine. The approaching Otira train passed witness on the left hand side of witness’s train. To Mr. Smart: Deceased was clear of the line while he was in the view of witness.

r To the Senior Sergeant: From the i time witness lost sight of deceased .iuntil the time the fireman called out I ;'that he had been hit, the train travel- , led about 20 feet. , WEATHER CONDITIONS The fireman on the engine of the - train, Earl William Dawson, corro- ; borated the evidence of Marshall as to the weather conditions, stating that there was a high wind and a ‘ slight drizzle of rain at the time. The j driver sounded a double blast on the whistle for the road crossing, when the train was on the bridge, and when the engine was passing over the Cobden road crossing the driver again sounded the whistle as he had seen deceased walking alongside the river bank. When the whistle was sounded deceased did not look round or give any indication that he had j heard the whistle, but continued to [walk between the two sets of tracks. [The speed of the train at .that time I would be about 10 miles an hour. I When the engine was about 20 feet [from deceased he walked in towards [the track on which the train wasj I travelling. Witness estimated that! ! deceased was walking about , four I | inches away from the rail. Witness! I called out “look out” to deceased anclj [the driver immediately applied the | Westinghouse brake. The engine] 'struck deceased on the back, knocking, him forwards and slightly sideways,' (and then the step up to the cab of; ithe engine struck him and rolled him] clear. ‘Witness did not leave the engine after it stopped. Until • deceas- ] led actually walked on to the line he 'gave no indication that that was his intention. It appeared to witness! that deceased had no knowledge that 1 the train was approaching. In witness’s opinion the driver took all

precautions to warn deceased of the approach of the train. Had deceased continued to walk on his original course no accident would have occurred.

Stephen Alderson, Railways Signalman, said he was holding the points and waiting to collect the tablet from the Rewanui train, when he saw a man walking on the side of the lines, and coming towards him. Witness did not know who the man was. The man took no notice when the train whistle blew. Witness saw him walk past a heap of rails, and just after that saw him struck by the corner of the cab of the engine, and thrown clear. “From the angle that I was on he apneared to be too close to the line all the time. The train leaving the goods yard for Otira might have taken up his attention, so that he did not hear the one behind him.” To Mr. Smart: Witness would not be in as good a position as the driver or the fireman to see if deceased was clear of the train, as he was looking at the man from a different angle. Dr. David Arnott, Surgeon al the Grey Hospital, stated 'that deceased was admitted to hospital at 5.45 p.m. on October 23, in a semi-conscious condition. He was suffering from a severe compound depressed fracture of the skull, with laceration of the brain. An operation was performed at 6.35 p.m., when depressed fragments of bone were removed, but he died at 7.30 p.m. Death was due to severe laceration of the brain, as a result of a depressed compound comminuted fracture of the skull.

r Constable G. S. Murray gave evi- >( denee that he was called to the scene e of the accident, and there saw deceas- _ ed lying on the ground, unconscious, t Dr. Moore arrived, and the arnbulance was called. There was no delay in the removal of deceased lo f hospital, and a doctor was in aitend- _ ance on the arrival of the ambulance t at hospital. Witness produced a sketch s plan of the railway.yard where the accident occurred. The Coroner returned a verdict that deceased’s death was due to c severe laceration of the brain resultj ing from a depressed fracture of the . skull, caused by his being struck by a t railway engine. He added that the evidence showed that there did not * appear to be- anything more that s could have been done by either the driver or the fireman of the engine 1 to avoid the accident. - CHILD’S DEATH y ~ | Before Mr. G. G. Chisholm, S.M., 3 as Coroner, at Greymouth, yesterday .. afternoon, an inquest was held into ■ the circumstances surrounding the 3 death in the Grey Hospital on No- ' vember 13 of Francis Wilson Sweet- ' rnan, aged four years and seven x months, of Blaketown. Senior Sergeant G. F. Bonisch conducted the , proceedings for the police. I John Joffre Walton, aged 10 years, ' gave evidence that about 4.30 p.m. ■ on November 12 he was playing with t deceased and his (witness’s) sister, [ aged six years, on Packer’s Quay. Deceased and the girl were in a hand- . cart which witness was pushing along ■ the footpath. When opposite McEnaney’s garage, he pushed the cart > off the footpath on to the road, which was done an incline. Half way down : the incline witness started to run, and as he reached the road he tried to turn the cart to the left. The right handle slipped out of his hand and the cart suddenly swung to the left and turned over. His sister and de- , ceased were thrown on to the road- ; way, and the cart fell on both of . them. He pulled the cart off the two ’ of them, and saw that deceased was ’ bleeding from an ear and his face. ‘ Fie shifted deceased on to the road- ; side, and Mr. Furness came along . and took him to his home. I George Samuel Furness, electric , welder, of Blaketown, gave evidence , that he saw the previous witness I pushing the cart, with two children , in it down the incline from the footj path to the roadway. The boy was| I running fast, and it appeared to wit- [ ness that the cart was out of the boy’s , control. As the cart reached the I roadway the boy swung it to the left! ; suddenly, and at the same time the] left hand wheel struck a large sod. ’ The children were thrown out on 1 to the gravel roadway. Witness went ! I to the scene, and could see that dej ceased was badly injured. The incline | from the footpath to the roadway was | about 20 feet long, and the roadway I was about three feet six inches bejlow the footpath. Dr. D. A. Arnott, Surgeon at the Grey Hospital, gave evidence that I deceased was admitted to hospital al , 5.45 p.m., in a deeply unconscious j condition due to cerebral injuries resulting from head injuries, with a I fractured skull. There was no evidence of any other injuries. Deceased did not regain consciousness, and (died at 12.15 a.m., on the following l day. Death was due to cerebral laceration due to head injuries asso- • dated with a fracture of the skull, I

Constable J. B. Jones said he inspected the scene of the accident, and also inspected the hand-cart out of which deceased was thrown. The drive down which the cart was pushed was 30 feet in length, between the footpath and the roadway, the latter of which was three feet six inches below the footpath. Both the drive and the roadway were of gravel. The cart was fitted with motor cycle wheels, with pneumatic tyres, and had a three-feet axle. It was well balanced, weighed approximately 40 pounds, and was the type of cart used by adults in which to cart firewood, etc.

To the Coroner: The cart was perfectly safe for a child to push on a level street, but with the children in it, and on the incline it was too heavy for a child to control.

The Coronei’ returned a verdict that death was=due to cerebral laceration due to head injuries associated with a fracture of the skull, caused by an accident when deceasd was playing with other children with a hand-cart on November 12. 1942.