A TRAM TROUBLE.

NZ Truth, Issue 65, 15 September 1906, Page 5

A TRAM TROUBLE.

tyas Maurice Moore Muddled

Or Did Martin Meditate Mutilation?

1 .On July 2, Maurice Moore called 4t Hancock's brewery for a load of „ brewer's grains. While there he : sampled' the beer— twice over, m fact —to make sure 'twas good. He then drove off m the direction of Newmarket. He was at peace with the whole world, Hancock's very special brew having warmed the cockles of his heart as it is warranted to do. Alas ! hard fate ordained that Maurice's happy state should not last longBefore he had journeyed far along the Kyber Pass Road, misfortune m the shape of a tram-car cannoned the hindquarters of his conveyance knocking it all skew-whiff and Maurice left his post ; but he did not leave m the ordinary way ; for the impact was so great that the poor man shot up. into the air

LIKE A SKY ROCKET. Onlookers said that Moore went up nearly as hfrgti ks the telegraph pole, and when he again returned to terra firma he did so with such ; velocity that. he sustained a compound fracture 'bf tlre'knee.'jiwWle the other knee was severely cut and his shoulder dislocated. The result of all was that Mptonhaii 'Datcy Irwih Martin appeared before S.M.- Dyer one day last week and • again on Monday to answer the horrible sounding charge of causing bodily 1 harm to milkman Moore. Had the latter given up the ghost as the result of the accident, Martin would have been charged with mansfciAtgnter. - ' , Muchly mauled Moore detailed the circumstances of going along Kyber Pass Road. ' He heard the tram-car gong and tried to pull out of the way of the car, but it wis .cotoing too fast, and sent him flying. He -was rendered unconscious, and having been a motorman himself once he reckoned he knew; a. thine or two* ,about tram trundling. He had, he said, three glasses of beer that .day, but was quite sober. ; . Threa, witnesses, were ; called to give an estimate as A ta the speed the car was going when tbd accident happen^ cd. .-One of these, Thomas Lougteian, reckoned the pace was between 25 and 30. miles an hour, Another cheerful cuss, Edward Wood, capped this by - estimating the speed as' 30 sto 40 miles, vet anojsher spefed expert ' named Tom Kjte . wajs jus,t ,as confident that the par, $as only going 10 to 12 . miles an hour. .A weighty; witness >vas. Chief; Detective Marsack, who happened to be m the, garden counting his. cabbages, or some Similar pastoral pursuit when the accident happened, Marsack told how he heard the tram gong ringing srood-o, and stuck his: head over the "fence to see if anything m his line . was going on. The car came into view going about 20 miles an hour, and it did not seem to 'diminish its speed. He . : . . THEN HEARD 'Afc CRASH ; - and «aW what was once a cart lying about m- the road and found Moore * badly injured-. A number of other eye-witnesses gave evidence, including Mrs Spalding (who is no relation to the Rev. Spa Wing, of "Private Secretary" fame-). This lady toid an intensely, dramatic tale of how she, was a pass- . enger m the ill-fated car. When . it left G-rafton Road it travelled at ;;a terrific : speed which %ape her a bad attack of nerves. She saw a liorse and cart ahead, and then saw the. driver of it going «P in the air and then fall like a sack to mother earth. She next related how, just before the impact, she sow motorman Martin smite at the conductor of the car and the conductor smiled back at Martin.; She did not advance the fact that an Auckland tram conductor deigning: to 'smile at . all was the cause of the accident, but Maeistrate Dyer said v he ssup^idsed she thought they were smiling at the fine pace tney were, going. !>v ■ Another passenger, Edmund 'Watesby, residing at Remuera, said that the car went, like- 7

AN ENGLISH EXPRESS TRAIN. (What's the matter with the Onehunga express for . comparison, anyway.) . A painter named Chas. Brune said that the car passed his house, like, a flash and he saw" the driver of the cart m the air at an height of 15 or , 16 feet. ■['."■ When the defendant Martin was put

m the box he said he rang the gong

continuously and saw that Moore looked round. Us (Martin) expected ~ to get clear but Moore seemed flurried, and. he put on the emergency ftiif brake but the greasy state of^ the "rails prevented him from pulling up , .sooner than. he did. E[e was* only '^oing alwut 14 miles ail hour before lie applied the brake.

Ma-gistrate Dyer said there were "mscrepanc'ies m the evidence.

v.fHE SYMPATHISED WITH JvfooßE hut it was. his duty to keep clear of the tram.,, lines. He was not justified m sending Martin for. trial, and' he ■ < -.would *. therefore be discharged.