THE RAILWAY ACCIDENT IN TASMANIA.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXII, Issue 159, 8 July 1886, Page 2

THE RAILWAY ACCIDENT IN TASMANIA.

1> DRIVER AND FIREMAN KILLED. THREE MINISTERS OF THE CROWN INJURED. LARGE NUMBER OF PASSENGERS HURT. Tha following intoroatinc* account 6f ; tho terrihlo railway accident near llohart -* cm the 291h nit., "a' few particulars of which roaohed ns by cable, was te-logra-plied to the Sydnoy Daily Telegraph, and appears m tho iasno of that papor on the Ist mat. : — The most serious, railway acoident tbat has over occurred m Tasmania. took place; last night on the main lino of railway. As the special train conveying tho llohart contingent of tho visitors from the opening of the Fingal line was proceeding lo llohart, and whon about three miles north of Brighton, at ahout half past 10 p.m a violent bumping waa felt ; the carriages swayed over on ono side, and the train overturned and was completely smashed np. The scone waa indescribable, and the confusion lh et ensued was very groat. Tho passenger-, comprising tho Premier (Dr Agnow), the AttorneyGeneral (Hon. J. S. Dodds), Tr-awrar (Hon. \Y. U. Burgesi), hII tin city aldermen, representatives of the press, and a large number of leadin; citizens, woro all thrown violently among the (h;bm of the broken carriages. The night, though fine, waa eiailc. Fires were • lighted, and the work of rescuing tha passengers wns oommonced. Many ef them narrowly escaped beiug bnrued to death through: a quantity of kerosene^/ catching fire and lighting the debris, r The dead bexiy of John Bradshaw, 27 * yeara of ago, the engiuedriver, was found. The b-idy was driven " right into the ground, and had to be dug out. The fireman was found with one leg cut off. Dr Agnew, Mr Dodds, Mr Bargesa, and Mr F. 11. Wise, steamboat proprietor, appeared to bo severely injureel, being fonnd amongst the tUbrh. Most of the passengers were more or less injured. The crash of the overturned tra'ri. which appeated to have gona off the taila, was heard at Brighton, three miles off. Assistance was soon forthcoming, a special train, with ambulance corps, surgeon*-,-and appliances fe.r relief, arriving m au hourand a-half. Tho sufferers wero got iuto it and a stait made for Hobart, that place being reached at 3 o'clock ia the morning. It is a marvel that everyone m the train waa not killed. The train was travelling at a great speed before reaching Campana and tho guard warned the driver to reduce the speed, but the warning was unheeded. The train was running at tbe rate of 40 miles an hour when the fireman Rogers remonstrated with the driver and t-dd him to shut off stoam. At the same time Rogers applied tho brake, which acted on tho wheels of the locomotive,' and it is supposed tha notion of tho break on the approach to the C-ohain curve mado the wheels slide inst-ad of revolve, causing tho engine to go ofF the line. Tho locomeitivo fell againat a Rli R ht embankment, and knocked off the dome, whioh waa blown a distance of *?.*; yard". Tho oxplosion aha: ts-red the engine, 'ami „U i ried away nhout ton panela of post and rail fenoing along tho line. Tho driver and. firemen were thrown out, and the tender fell npon them. Tho remainder of the train was composed of ono short earriago, one lour carriaße, and tx. guard'-* van. The long carrint-o, m which wero 18 pereonu, telescoped on tbo shorter one, containing two or three paa-tengera ; bnt the guard's van, m which the guard ani Mr W. St Legor wore, remained standing, tlie front wheels only eoinf* off the rails. Joseph Rogers, the fireman, who had his logs out off, died from the effeots of ■ hia injnrioß to-day.