ONGARUE SMASH

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 21 July 1923, Page 7

ONGARUE SMASH

THE INQUIRY

(by telegraph —press association.) . TAUMARUNUI, j u w 20; Ihe inquiry into the recent "railway disaster at Ongarue was continued today. _ ihomas Diirry, a guard, stationed at laumaruAui, deposed that ie was intormed of the accident ac 7 a.m , and he was instructed to run a second reliel tram. He gathered all the cushions anc other materials available. Three nurses and one doctor went with tne second roller tram, which arrived at the slip at 8.15 a.m. Preference was given to tlie injured-m conveyance. When the second relief train arrived all the dead and injured had been removed from the wreck. He did not hear a clergyman making a. complaint. John Denahy, a storeman at the launiarunm station, deposed that he made arrangements for the transportation of the dead and the injured. He got cars, stretchers and bedding, and everything was in order by the time the first relief train arrived. W:ith a porter he removed the luggage from the van, and all unclaimed luggage was token, to the office. He called out to the passengers to claim their belongings at the office. They were instructed not to collect any charges for the luggage lie was in charge of the luggage up fill do clock, and no charges were made that he knew of. If there had been any argument1 about the luggage he would- have heard it. Witness said he was told to lift the luggage off the s:at:on platform, as a good deal of it belonged to the injured. He suggested tOi °n\ Pa6seu£er that it would be moru advisable to store the luggage, as there was a chance of" pilfering. Witness made no reference to making a charge tor storing Ilobert Crozier, a ganger in charge or the iaumarunui section, said the boulder was about a third of the size or the- Kakahi boulder. The latter weighed about ten tons; The ■ Oiifarue boulder was 3ft hijch by sft wide. When he arrived by the first relief train he helped to relieve two injured men who were jammed between seats. JbLe also' removed the dead irom tne debris. Ihev had to take the first dead out of the windows, there being no-other waj. Witness heard a certain clergyman rtmark that the dead should not bo removed without a streteherl There were plenty of tools and men for the! work of rescue. The slip was a small one, but it was full of boulders, otherwise the tram would have gone through it. He had known trains. go througn slips. He heaird no complaints as to a shortage of ambulance appliances.. It Wets not a bad section. There had been ram off and on for sixteen weeks prior to the-accident,. Walter j. Knticott, a Methodist clergyman, of Tawoarujiui,,. gave eviuenc© that he was a passenger on the * wiecxed tram. Witness and i>r. ijath- i gate took pa;rt in txhe rescue work, and | he found a shortage of- tools at first; ! that was until the guard came along J about ten minutes later with imple- j ments. ; Mr Riddell: I suppose the time ! seemed -very . long. Witness: Yes, it seemed long with nothing but our hands to work with.! *irst-aid appliances were brought for-* ward by the guard. There was no iodine and no picric acid, but there was lysol. There seemed to be no splints m that box. Witness considered that the dead were treated with.every reverence

\\ lMiam Robert Davidson, District i..aiJvva> Department: engineer at Qhn-^ kune, gave evidence that the Ongarue section was classed as the safest in the district, and nothing to* speak of had come down _for ■ twenty years. Pumice country gave no indication of an im•poiidmg shp on account-of its non-ad-liesive nature. Witness considered that everything possible was being 4one to mmiirtise the dagger of slips coming ttown. Witness said it was a me-chant cnl impossibility for a. boulder to have feeen carried for two and a Kalf diain& unless it' came down in front of the engine.

William Freden-ick Campbell", the fireman of the wrecked train, deposed' thai, immediately before the collision power was shut off. Witness was Jssenins- as good look-out, but he did not see any--thifig before the crash came. At firsts there was a sound like metal under the wheels and then a loud report. He thought it was the smoke-box being gttiQSHoed:, because all the fire shot out into- the cab, : Witness desun'Wf his ex.pwiences afteir the smash.. Witness* said lie thought' the boulder must have come' down fast as they got to that spot. It did not sound as if it struck the; engine anywhere else Ikiti ,ih: fihe> smoke-box. The engine seemed to leave the- road right away. Witness heard; the driver put the brake on, and then trie? crash cane. This conch:r)ed the evidence, and tlie commission adjourned to" 9Auckland.