RAILWAY APPEAL BOARD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 12991, 4 June 1904, Page 10

RAILWAY APPEAL BOARD.

A silling of (he Sonth Island Railway 'Appeal Board was held ;at (he Traffic Superintendent's office yesterday for the purpose ot hearing evidence in nil appeal lodged by Arthur O'Kecfe against his reduction* Win tho position of ganger to that of platelayer. The board was constituted s? follows:—District Judge Ward (chairman), Mr A. Graham (stntiontiiaster), and'Mr H. Duncan (Permanent Way Department). Mr ■James Burnett, (acting chief engineer) represented the, Railway Department, and the appellant conducted his own case.

'Mr Burnett, in opening the case, stated that O'Keefe came to Otago from Woodville; on jjrolubtion'lo the position of ganger, and was put on tho Otago Central linei His length, Mr Burnett thought, then extended from the 77 mile peg to the 811 niilc peg, but he did not give''unqualified satisfaction on that length. Use length was a'difficult one lo keepin order, slid there was a great deal of trouble with slips and bad country. The lengths were rearranged in September, 1903—about a year after O'Keeto ciimo down from the Jforth Island,—and the appellant was then put in charge of the lino from the 73 mile peg to the 82 mile peg, ihis being undoubtedly one of .the easiest lengths o;i the branch, there being an absence of tho bad country he had been subjected to before. The length- \n% in fail order when O'Keefo look charge of it, but siiice then it was represented that the condition had continually gone bad;, that O'Keefe hud not kept the work np to date, and that'lie had not made, the improvements that should have been made. It was not asserted that tho track was linsafe for tralTic, but it was contended that tho work had been falling into arrar, and that. O'Keefe, after a trial extending over some time, was not cupablo of keeping "the length, in order. In (onseiiucnce otthis it was recommended that O'Keefe be disrated from the position of ganger, and lie was now appealing against Ul3 decision of the department in giving effect to the recommendation.

Alexander Mackio, driver, stated, 111 the course of his evidence, thai' lie did not consider O'Kcefo's length a. bad one to rim over, and he thought it compared favourably with other lengths on the Otago Central line. Ho thought the length was kept in very fair order, and he had never heard any of his firemen complain about it, lie had been driving on (he Otago Central lino off awl on ever sinco the line was opened to Kanfurly. Unless there was something seriously wrong with the track witness would not bo likely to notice any detects, but if there was anything seriously wrong he would let the ganger know at once. Witness had not noticed if there were many weeds on tho line, and ho had never had occasion to call the appellant's, attention to any defects in the length. Driver Weir, who had been running over the line duri-ig the last year, Rave corroborative evidence, a3 also did Driver Henry 'K. Woodhead and Driver Wilson. Francis (I. Morgan, platelayer, staled that ho was working with the appellant nil the time the latter was on the Otago Central line, and he could not consider that the work was done m n first class manner. Witness thought that in some case 3 he could have dono the.work better himself. Witnes3 had no idea what instructions the appellant had received, but he thought;, he was supposed to lift the line up lo a certain standard. The appellant was not doing the work in a workmanlike manner. As fur as witness knew, Iho best men had sometimes to 'go hack and lift short pieces of line, hut he had never aeon a man box in seven lengths one day, and then have to lift it again trio next day. On March 2-1 the appellant lifted four lengths of rails that he had liftod iho previous day, and on March 25 seven lengths that w'c'ra attended to on the 22nd hod to be lifted again. For four months witness was in charge of the length from the 77 niiic pog to Ihe S'j mile peg prior lo O'Keefe taking charge. The length was in fair running order when the appellant took charge, Imt, in witness's opinion, it had got worse since, and the weeds'had beconw Ihio'ier. The ballast was bad for weeds, but they won'nl !not have been so troublesome if they had been- taken cut from tho ballast and 'thrown away, but the' appellant instructed the men not to pull them out. The appellant had found fault with witnesses work on the ground that it was not done properly. Witness had known the appellant to lift with sight pegs to guide him, Mid also without their assislr-nce. Xo level pegs had been put in by the Permanent Way Department, Pegs were put in by the Public .Works Department, but they bad sunk. Witr.Ms was aware that very' lew gangers could lilt half or' o.uarter of a mile without going back to lift .something, but he considered that tho appellant's lifting was bad. John Brough, platelayer, who bad worked under the appellant for six months, stated that so far as he knew the appellant had dono his work in tho way a ganger should do it. Witness had been engaged us n platelayer for about seven months, but he bad been working iv, relaying gangs previously. Witness did not remember getting instructions from the appellant not to pull out the weeds. 11. Todd, who had been a platelayer for about three years'and a-half, and who had worked under the appellant, said he did not think the appellant carried out his duties in a. workmanlike manner. The appellant did not. make a good ton, mid mucin the joints 100 high. Witness considered that another ganger could havo done the work better than the appellant did it, and he was of opinion that the appellant was not capable of keeping a length. James Ryan. Harry Jamieson, and James Yernoii (guards on the Otago Central line) gave evidence to the effect that, so far as Iliey could judge, the appellant's length com- ]• creel favourably with other lengths in the district. F. W. Maclean, district engineer, slated thai the appellant was oriiinally in charge of the length extending from Hsnfurly to Wedderfcurn. Ho remained in charge of that length tor some time, but towards the end of last year tl'.ere was a rearrangement of the gangs on tho Otago Central iine, ihe lengths being extended somewhat. Instead of the length extending from Kanfurly to Woddc-rburn, another liinpth-was inaclo, extending from the 73-mile poj/J near Waipiata, lo :hc 32-railo peg, about five miles from Himfurly, aiid between lianimly and IVcddorbu.ru one portion of ihe old length was very bad, the country frequently subsiding. . Witness had not been ouite satisfied that the appellant was altogether a satisfactory ganger, but made allowances for him on account of the bad country. The appellant »•«:) then given charge, of the length extending from the 73-mile to the 82-milc pegs, this being a very easy length. In the nine miles.there were eight'miles of lino absolutely straight, and there were only four curves in the length altogether, the total extent of these being 48J chains. ■' The formation was very good throughout, and the earthworks were very light, and altogether it was considered that if the appellant was able.to. kcop a length at all he would be capable of keeping that one in good order. The rearrangement took.place on September 28, 1903, ami on November 25 witness ii'ade an' inspection of the length. He was so dissatisfied wilh the length that on November 27 lie mote to the inspector stating that the length was in bad order, being simply a moss of weeds. In conversation with the inspector witness, stated that the ganger was lo get every '.chance. At the end of February witness made another careful examination, and fcund that 'practically the only improvement that had been effected since his previous visit w.is that there were not nearly so many weeds, tluugh the track was still exceedingly weedy. The surface was on the whole, .very uneven, and 111? " lining" was very bad. Tho line, was in a very inferior condition, and'witne-9 formed the opinion that it was going back instead of improving. Thii condition was very marked at the end of the lenglli, where the condition ■ of the adjoining length, which had not been touched for some time, was exceedingly good. After his second examination witness again wrote lo the inspector stating that there had been some improvement in the matter of clearing , weeds,, but that the track was still dirty, and in very poor running order. The appellant coulcl give .no reasonable escuse for the condition of the length, and witness thereupon recommended that he should be reduced. Losh Stevenson, ganger, stated that he was formerly in charge of four miles of the length afterwards taken over by the appellant. A small portion cf the line about the 75-mile, peg was not in good order when witness left it, but he thought that a gang could put it in good order in about three days. The road required surfacing and "lining." A.week before witness handed over the portion referred to he spent all his time in doing np the line between tho 73 and 74-mile pegs, leaving it in good order. From tho 75-inilo peg to Banfurly the'line was in very fair order, and tho yard at Itniifurly was in very good order, the whole of it having been surfaced and "lined" throughout. ■ There were very few weeds when witness left; there having been no growth. In the four miles there was a high bank,' where the earth had never, been properly consolidated. The line was not very bad for weeds when witness last saw it.

Edwin Horn, relieving ganger, stated that lie had taken charge'of O'Keefe's length five weeks ago. The track was iu an unsatisfactory condition, both as regards surface and 'Mining," and the ballast was scattered about.. Sonic parfg fit the length appeared as if they liikl not been, weeded forvthc season. The catch-water drains appeared to have been neglected altogether. : The formation was.capital formation, made up chiefly of gravel. There wero no heavy banks or cuttings worth speaking of. There were only about (our curves,, avul easy ones-at that.. Three of them were in very.poor condition, b'oth as regards surfacing and " lining." There wan too much cant at the- commencement of the curve near the Eweburn bridge. This-was liable to,lria.ke an engine lurch badly to'one side, and it might cause a. derailment. In his opinion the appellant's length should be a. first-class one. ivith good weather, witness thought lie could pat the length' in first-class order in six months, . . ■ ■

John Matthewson, inspector of permanent way, stated that nt times he had occasion to find fault with tho appellant's work, the surfacing being poor and the track dirty. Wit-, r.css once sent a note to the appellant tu pnek' both ends of an open culvert, and the latter" replied that the matter had been attended to. ■When witness next visited the place he found that the matter-hcd not been attended io, th v w

appellant hiving attended to a culvert at a different place. '■ The line had. gone back since tlv3 appellant took charge ot it, and the work was not satisfactorily <lone when it was done. He did not consider that the appellant was a competent ganger. The length was a very easy ono to look after, the formation being good, though the weeda were rather troublesome in phecs. The Appellant stated that when he took over the length it was made nine miles long. The portion ho tool? over from the other ganger had had little or nothing done to it for six months, as for >3 he could judge. The portion that ho.had before the alterations wcro made bad had nothing done to it for 12 months, because witness bad Eden Creek and Lignite Bank to look after, so that practically he took over anew length. Shortly after he took it over he received a. memo, from the district engineer stating that the weeds were bad, and that the line was very rough on the surface. Witness cleared the weeds, and then started to put a top. on the track. By this time the weeds had started to grow again, and the inspector of permanent way told him-that he would have to take them "off. In the meantime witness had to go into the ballasting pit to fix tho. ballast roads, to fix points and crossiug, and fix up a house for the ballast men, during which time one of his men was on half-pay and one went off for a fortnight's holiday. The work in the ballast pit occupied the gang for about four days, and the work in connection with the huts tool; about two days. After Mr Burnett and the Appellant had addressed the board, the Chairman intimated that the decision would he forwarded to tho Minister in the usual way.