CATTLE ON RAILWAYS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18168, 14 August 1922, Page 6

CATTLE ON RAILWAYS.

A CONSTANT MENACE. HEAVIER PENALTIES URGED. Among railway officials very emphatic reference is made to the fact that the derailment of the express on Friday night at Drury was caused by what is characterised as '" the chronic curse of straying cattle." The danger, it is stated, is a constant menace, both to engine-drivers and the travelling public. In this most recent case it is pointed out that four young cattle were on or about the main line at a curved approach to a deeD cutting near an overbridge, and, only a little distance on, a level stretch of made-up ground with a falling bank on either side. As it happened the jar of dashing into the cattle and the subsequent thrust off the line as a result of a caroa-se fouling the points at a siding ended in nothing more than damage to the perpianent way and some rolling stock. But, with less of that intangible factor known/as luck, the heavy train might have collided with the bridge or have been precipitated over the embankment. Thare was no chance of the driver seeing the beasts lti the darkness Of the cutting a ft the train approachod at maximum speed, with all visible signs ahead denoting a clear track. Railwaymen assert that the public should insist upon heavier penalties being inflicted upon the owners of straying cattle. Experience has shown that penalties in the past have not had the salutary effect of an extensive repair of boundary fences. It is suggested that possibly the loss of a hundred lives through the curse of cattle wandering on the railways will, some day, bring about an essential improvement. Our Manurewa correspondent states that the danger of stock straying on to the railway line also exists at Manurewa; where it is possible for animals to reach the line through the station yard. This danger exists at all times of the day and night. '