TRACTION ENGINE FATALITY.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume II, Issue 181, 16 July 1912, Page 2

TRACTION ENGINE FATALITY.

ADJOURNED INQUEST. FIREMAN WILLIAM'S EVIDENCE. The adjourned pr<weedings in contection with the’ inquest relating to lie detrJi-.of Ernest Turpin, who was tilled instantly at Millar's bridge, Havelock, < n loth May. were held in he Courthouse. Napier, yesterday ifternoon. The last sitting of the coroner's nqtiiri Lad be tn held at Hastings •n 2lili .May and vas then adjournd for the ci'deme of Lawrence Wiliams. who al-<> eiiUaincd serious nurv in the accident. Air. S. E. McCarthy. S.M., conluetcd the inquiry, and tiie follow-1 ng legal genllcim’iit a;>].*< "tred : Mr. | jlceso;i. for the Hawke's Bay Tint-: icr Co.: Mr. Lusk, for the widow [ ind family: ami Mr. Sproule. for thj •lawkeC jjay ( ou'ity Courn iL j La wi rmo Williams, sworn, aid he •'■ulil mu sal what c xpe; iein-c dc•cascd p' s-c.-s.-cd mid to the best of d:> knowledge, lie (deci -urd) •.nsccrifieatod. The i j-giiic parsed overj he bridge at I*J a.m. that morning. | ■. ith Uur emptv trucks and also two I v. ub about rune mid a half O.:-, <f eval. The wtight of the engine wou'd be about twelve tom and he empty Ducks eighed about one <m cat-li. The County CounciUs .vaggoDs v. t-cl‘l go al.*>‘.ll 30cw - *.. ind tin’ total weight on first passing! u-io-.s ti;o bridg. - ’ wou’d lit- aboul -'WI <>ns. There had been no sign of ■riakii’g <>n nas'-ing on: - the bridge n the morning. The foreman had aid the bridge was safe, and wit-i(--s hini-x'f. so far r.:» bis rccol- < cii< i: ‘.cried, had brought up the iih _:i< :: of the bridge. The county ■<-:Ti|i.-’.n was not then present. He wit;ir*-s) had said to deceased that he bridge ought to be propped up n the centre. Had heard the over--c: r say that the bridge was safe md it would see the job through, rid nt ier heard the overseer instruct dei cased to cable the waggons igross the bridge. On arrival at the oridge they stopped and changed 'nto a lower gear. No examination .vas mad:- at that time of the bridge. Proceeded very, very slowly over the jndge. Tiie accident had occurred u:e.i cl miug t-fi the bridge and the ,ro.a i. heels of the engine Had a grip u abeui a yard on the solid roait. jhe Budge bicke, so bar as he re.jidiilxna, directly under the eno:ne. ii;e bridge collapsed without • anting. Only me engine and front .liieef on tuc icaouig truck ten .uivugh. Deceased, wtien Witness .- in- him. was pinned by the upper part ci the ocuy Witness, himscii. iiad been caugfit by the toot and seaided severely. When tiie accident uit’urrtil they had loss tenmge than when they crossed the bridge that morning. Turpin was always a cun iui driver.

To Mr. Gleeson : Turpin ihade cn quiiics c.f the hotelkeeper at/Clive ocfere they started cut as to - the ct iidr.ion of the bridge. Could not say whether enquiries relating to the pndge bad been made at Napier. Mr. Hallam delivered at Clive a message from the read overseer which -tated that the bridges were all safe and trustworthy. Did not thniK they would han* proceeded unless ihn mor sage had been received. On going to Havelock that morning b< th. ilrecascd and h'mself had gone under the bridge. Had not he?rd Mr. Tayh r instruct Turpin to cable trucks .vri'i the bridge. Did not think dteci-ed would have crossed ihc bridge with the whole 1< id of rucks if *llO oicr.- er had imtrmtcd him to cable them one by one The.r r-bjc.-i ri going beneath the bridge ,i s to cx-mriie n. a customary procedure with them when on a strange road. D ihtn be had suggested chat the bridge ch-.old be pro)-ped in .he centre.

Mr. Spn-ulc ; ( ou'.tl not :;iy what weight '.■• c>:ild be ‘>:i the first span «t ’u bridge. Witness <lcnied saying t<> the parti who L;.d ptflkd him out of the < rr-rk. “If we had taken Tay-l-ji'f a<li;«o th':-- I'-mld not ! av ( - happen'd. " Hnd pot giitn expression ,o stieb an <-pin>«i:i to .':>iy<>v. His recollecticii.s «f the events riibsei|iii ii; to the ao-y-lenf were quhe ' k.ir. except as to the persons whom be .-aw .::'ci '! these he could :'[cn- , ifi i idi '-•!<■ - ;> in't n-'.niccl Jcill. < .’OVERN MENT ENGINEER'.> EVIDENCE.

D. N. M< .Aidlau. Goiernmon! cngim< r. stat'd the bridge bad giieu w<ai .da ut I If’. 3iri. from he Havc-l<-'*k end and 3’i». from th* - oppot itc mid. Mr. M<-<'aiti-f. : Was there sufficient mi-i|''"- b i - that h.ng -pin .' AVit lies’.: No. Mr. McCarthy : Do yen m an if tiie timber were till sound’ Witness: No. with a weight of anything Fke tv chc tom,, I would not advise any cue to cross the bridge even if it vas new. Mr. McCarthy : D'd you form any op'iiicti f rom lhe inspect ion e-f the bridge as to the breaking strain, supposing tl.e timber vas new ?

Witness: On the centre of these s| ringers il-e er<mli<n<'d stress to bring about destruct’vn would be about 97 tons.. A traction engine passing acro-s ti.e structure would create a <ii<■ 11:rb : 11g element wh’ch might be d( *-e> ibed as i ■mrecss’on r-f blows. The factor cf safety is r:ov usually n-siiiiii d at 6 into f»7.

Coat billing. ?»i r. .McMdlan :a : d he would as-uiii ■ about 13 toils for a traction eng no in motion. From the 13 t.ns. if they assumed that the bridge would carry tint when new. must be deducted I be weight of the stringer, decking, and. roughly-. about 1 t r 'i- road m-t il. Mr. McCarthi : Whit would cm-idi i a '-at- i-maage for anything in moth ii pa-sing ove r the bridge 1 .\bcmi three or ’■ ur tons. In giiing ti.e .-tress I cannot be absohiteiv certain whether -t r’ligi i- wire -rrnreh fastened to the pier-. T’-.’-c was no fixed rule regaiding tr-img bridges. A -k-ll-CI i.’i-pcc-t >’!• might to km-'-’- li’thout niiii-li tc-ting when a bridge -lioidd !>e rcn?w<d. Mr. MeCarrhv: If ti.e Overseer told deera-ed to rice, the bridge' iiith I ii- tiaciion engine. v«mid th’it

be wrong - I would not have done it myself. In my opinion that would be wrong. When a bridge got old it war possible by understrapping to keep it fr«.m < < 'lapsing. There was no indication of such repairs to Millar’s bridge. The state of the stru* - turc could Laie be n disco, <i by testing. MR. TAYLORS STATEMENTS. H. Taylor, sworn, deposed that he was about fifty ’ yards distant when the accident occurred and went to the scene immediately afterwards. Williams was taken to the house of Mr. Weyergang. and the former had said that they bad been told in Napier, and also by the Overseer, that the trucks .were to be cabled across the bridge. The injured man did not appear dazed. To Mr. Gleeson: Had not spckeii to the road overseer before he spoke to Wdlinms. Had net seen the overseer until half an hour after the ac cidcni. and only after ambiilan-:' had left had the overseer mentioned the question cf cabling the truefe across. Williams had not sait whether-those from whom they hid received inst ructions at Napier were County officials or represented the timber company. . Mr. Lusk: Why d'd you not tcli the road overseer what William: told you .— The overseer was not speaking to me exactly, and 1 did not tell him at that time. Two dan* lnt< r I volunteered lhe evidence-. U the overseer. WITNESS SWOONS. At this stage Mr. Taylor collapsed in tiie witness box, an<| was rrmov od in an unconscious condition Iron, the court. He. however, recovered a short time afterwards. W. DOWRICK’S EVIDENCE. The n.-xt witness WilFam Dow rick, said both spans had been re decked by hui in >9OB. The string ers were (Fen all right. Had alsc thought, on examining the bridge ir January last, that everything wat safe. H' had no instructions to tert the stringers. His orders only re lated to rcdecking only. At this juncture the inquiry was postponed until to-morrow at 2.14 p.m. '