THE NAPIER FATALITY.

Gisborne Times, Volume V, Issue 86, 20 April 1901, Page 2

THE NAPIER FATALITY.

<& . INQUEST ON THE BODY. (By Telegraph—Press Association.). Napier, last night The adjourned inquest on the body of Edward Weaver, who died as the result of a railway accident on Wednesday, was held to-day. Prom the evidence is appeared that the train was travelling at the usual speed, 14 to 15 miles per hour, and that the whistle had boon sounded the times according to regulations, but that deceased, who was driving at a fast trot, appeared to bo unaware of the approach of the train until within a few yards of the line, owing to a building obscuring the view at that spot, and it was then too late to pull up at the pace ho was going. The driver ot the train did not see the vehicle at 'all, but the fireman saw it when within three yards and rushed to the brakes, but at the same time the engine struck the horse in the centre of the body, throwing him clear of the line. Weaver was thrown several feet in the air by the force of the concussion, tod came down somewhere about the burners of the engine, which threw him aside. The chief injuries sustained were a very severe gash on the head, from which the blood flowed freely, but from the first there was no chance of recovery. The jury returned a verdict that deceased had been accidentally killed, but that no blame attached to the driver or firemen of the train, an 1 added a rtder to the effect that in view of the dangerous nature of the crossing at this place the attention of the railway authorities should be called to the same, and that the Government be requested to either station a man or fix an alarm or gates at the crossing, to give warning to persons using it when trains are about to pass.