THE APPLEBY COACH FATALITY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 13 February 1908, Page 2

THE APPLEBY COACH FATALITY.

THE. INQUEST,

TO-DAY'S PROCEEDINGS.

The inquest on the body of Mrs Lydia Tilbury, who was killed in the coach accident' at the Appleby railway crossing on Saturday, February Ist, was resumed at the Courthouse to-day before Mr Hr'Eyre-Kenny, Coroner, and the •following jury: — Messrs E. E. Trask (foreman), M. P. Webster, H. Braddell, C. Birth senr., P. Topliss, arid E. JS.

Urove,

Mr C. R. Fell appeared for the Kail-, way Department; Mr C. J. Harley for the*driver of the coach, Chas. Bricklands; Mr Maginnity. for Miss Fittall, one of the injured passengers ; and Mr E. B. Moore for Messrs Newman Bros., the proprietors of the coach. Sergearit Dougafl conducted the in>_ qiiiry On behalf of the police. The first witness waß . James Hill, railway guard, who was ltt charge of ■■ No. '3 down train Tfrom Tad' mor to' Nelson on February ,Ist. ii* said the train was-rattning' to : 'a Special timetable,- and to advertised tiriie. Ap* proachirig_the .Appleby "crbssing'at" 1&15 p.m., the engine whistled at.: the usual distance, about 300 yards from'the crossing. <: t There were ho passengers for Appleby, and the "train was to stop at that station only if required. As.no passengers could Be seen^waiting.at the Appleby station he ga.ve'xhe signal to gd right through the station without stopi. ping, and he received acknowledgment of the signal from the fireman. •■ 'A'hft brake . was put on slightly after the

signal was given iri case passengers in the station building might come oh to Ihe platform at the last moment; Looking out again he saw two horses trying to get out of a hedge, and the fore part of a coach attached to them.. TM : oßacH-

had not approached from .the sidd h8 signalled from or he would have seen it. (In reply to a question: by the; Coroner, the witness stated that thf Westings house brake was not in Use ion tneNeli

son section.) He saw. two persons ofl the right side, of the line, arid looking on the other side he saw two. rtiore per- - sons and the body of the coacD; HS--put oil the brake, arid received three short whistles — the signal for putting oil •■ -' | the brakes — as .he was doing so. The .*ati '■■ ••* then had hardly reached tne scenfi'-fif i the accident. He dropped off the traifij " and went back, and found ihe\66S6lidriver and the girl Fittall lying: clear: of the line oh the- Appleby station -side; Miss Walters was lya.rig iri the <Sttle" stops oh the opposite side, and Mrs Tilbury was also oh that side, - but A little nearer to the station. Mrs Tilbury was motionless, and apparently, was killed, outright. Miss Fairhaty, a nurse from the Hospital, arrived on the. scene and ' advised that the injured should iiotwj allowed to get up. Passeiige'rs .By . t|» train then came along, amongst . thc'ni . JJurse Warnock, from the Christen" JrchHospital: _ The ifijufed wefe'jjlaCed •!• ~fira guard's van, and the! body :of the deceased. in a carriage nexfc;toJtho-»aiii At' 12.33 the train 'left Appleby;': A messenger went to Richmond for a', doctor, but the doctor was, riot.; at. -Mine; At the time of the accident., the train -w»» travelling ot* attorn. IS-*»»Ic» ='W5Ji Special passenger trains were aliowea to : . travel 30 mile's an- hour between Neisoii and Tadrnor. His first fluty as guard of the train was the safety of .the public. , --. (At this stage the Cor:ner remarfeaa tkat Mr Totittss, the maiiagmg clerk for. Messrs Fell and Atkinson, was on tho jury, and if counsel engaged objected Mr Topliss could withdraw, as .four jurymen were sufficient to give a, verdict. No objection was made by cbunj sel, and Mr Topliss continued to serve on the jury.) - To Mr Maginnity: He was quit* snre the usual whistle was given when the train approached the. crossing.' For about 100 yards from the crossing on the _ west side a train would not be obscured by the hedge growing on the south side of the roadway. The train was .under perfect control at the time of the accident. He did not see the coach-coming along the road. There was nothing -to prevent a person sitting on a coach appitoachiuj \'M Apleby 'crossing from the west from seeing a train coming from Hope— the dip in the road' 'JOO yards or so from the -crossing would not cause tbe train to be obscured from tho bos of a coach. ■ ■„ : . , ' .'-. To Mr Moore : There was a light wind blowing oh the Ist— a sea breeze. Lhe van pulled up about 34 chains after it psased the. scene Of the accitwat. . To Mr Harley: The ordinary handbrake was the«.only brake on the train. There was a brake on the van. and orie on each of the three cars on the_ train. There was no one to attend to W brakes on the cars. Three and a-haJK chains was the shortest distance ,m which the train could, have been pulled

To Mr. Fell : It would have taken longer to pull up if there, had. been no. station at Appleby. . A *»wty--'^»|, whistle— seven or eight secona>-waß sounded before the crosing was reached. Dr Lucas deposed that he was called to the railway station, Nelson, on February Ist. He saw the dead oody of a woman in a railway carriage, and. the same afternoon he went^to the morgue and inspected the body. He lonyd an extensive fracture of the skull, , aid asq of the bones on the right side ot tro face The injuries to the head were inthemsslves quite sufficient to ca-tse instant death " The left foot « as ahu«*completely severed, and the bones of the ri-rht foot had been crushed u:d were protruding through the boot. Tne body was also Injured. The- cause of oeath was shock following on the injuries received. At the. railway station he saw other injured people. Three people were in the lugß^^^-^^TuterSal f cring from severe shock and in ternal nmfes; a little girl, whose left .thigh wis fractured and. who' was suffering . from shock; and a young ™ ma £ de *™ was suffering from shock. , He ordered all three to be at once. taken to the BosP1 To Mr Maginnity : Tito injories-^to the girl'Fittall were serious,.;. . ' Mr Harley said the .«*»«?,„.«*? ™ connection with the death of ; Mrs lU-. bury, and Mr Maginnity w^«nde avourine to bring out evidfence that would bo used at a probable civil action later on. Mr Moore agreed with Mr Harley a objection. . .. __ Mr Maginnity said it was quite >• an assumption that he was^n a ' ** B«g---expedition"-the •™nP^-™K*a£ m&ft not be correct. .&■«&s£ that it was desirable that the fullest investigation, should be .made as tt»Mues would be of a very «"»»«**£ The Coroner said the, m™?. *" into the cause of the death of Mrs .Tilbury, but it might •"•■•*n? u »'&«fr such a question as had beeri put bj to. Maginnity; there must, however,.. be a "The witness gave, itv. as his opinion that the girl's injury was dPOyto * t all. John Morris Stevens, engine =man on the Nelson-Taomor section of the railway, deposed - that he was w charge of the engine on No. 3 down train on February Ist. He gave one long whistle about 300 yards from the Appleby crossing. Just befow he •- whistled he saw a coach 'approaching ' the crossing. The coach nliight ; have been 150"yards from the. crossing. ; The train kept on, but at a slacken.- v ed speed, as the train -might have j.. been required to stop^at~ the "Appleby' station. He could jiee. the coach coming on; but neither the coach nor the train stopped till the former was struck. He expected, the coach to stop every moment.'. He saw the' driver on the seat of the coach; but did not notice whether he made any. attempt to stop. The coal bunker was on the front of the train, _arid there was a cow-catcher on '.the bunker. Just as the train struek.tho .. coach the fireman applied the brake/: . and witnessed whistled .for. brakes. : The train went about .80 yMdsfafteV the brakes :jvere applied. ■■• -The notices MStpp! Look out_ for the engine! " were up -onbotlfsides of the line. He understood-: -that all vehicles, etc., had to giveaway to the railway. From the time he first saw the coach he could have pulled up the train— if he had known the coachman was not going -to stop: He would, guess r that he could- apply with the : • brake 2 tons to each wheel of the engine,.and there were 6 wheels; Roughly the weight Jof the engine, would be 90 tons. -JThe driver of the coach had

the reins" in his hand, but. /witness, could not say whether he moved./ or whether he, was asleep. There yns :-..'.. a little girl on the seat, witlr^the -^ driver. -" ■• „,-•;-'- To Mr Maginnity: He first saw the:; •.oach from abont 400 yards from the >." crossing. The hedge along the road ; was not" thick enough at any: part obEcure the vieg of tW fioasb, ana

'..V-:-^\sWvrat.;a-:yipw/d£\tn»vttain. :: . Bet .fore, the ;16ng whistle was sounded he .; majr have been travelling from 15 ; t* fe: !^^?. an -hour.: : The .steams had, v j beeirshut off a quarter b£ a mile, on; X- Tt el8 ? n «^ of ,4he Hope station;: : =i? c . "grade and. -the: weight -of the : .: " ; * ra P bem g sufficient, to : carry w-^he ■:-. -train to^Rjchmotid; r He did nOt^Sisv coyer that the coach: had not: stoppeH •'.'.•-.; ."Jw.ne was very nearly. on top, of it '■-. « the crossing;; and neither Westing- : house nor any other.: brake, could have A : avoiaed; the accident altogether; when M ' got to7the'-;cro'ssing. •>' s The .horses' -.-■',:.\Ma&';'.w6Bld;-Jb'e..-;ffli;.£Mt:>'from..^'.th.B ■■■■'•' totals -vyhehrthe ..engine -reached with-in-a'few yards of the crossing. *~ (Left sitting.)