THE INQUEST.

Otago Witness, Issue 2467, 26 June 1901, Page 12

THE INQUEST.

An inqu?=t vas held at the Wharf Hotel on Wednesday concerning the doaih of J. Rhodes, Vflo was killed on the ui'.way at the Cattle Yards on Tuesday evening. The inquest was conducted by Mr C. C. Graham, coroner, aiul a jury or six. of whom Mr J. Baxter was chosen loieman. Rhodes was about 34 years of age, and was a native of Birmingham, England. Dpvid Kay deposed that he was "employed ou the railway, and he kr>cw cle-ta=ed John Rhodes. On Tuesday evening witness was in Ills company. Ihey knocked oft woik together. Ihev were waiting for the train at t'-e Catl'e Yards station, and tne hai l ivrt= spvuoachms, witness said the> had better ,jo r^ioos to t'.e plaifo/in Did not see cL .pnse'i qg?m until h.s body was taken from uncle." ui<> tr. :n W ltness walked alons} the platform .' le .■• yards and picked up a hat, and then a l>ag. lie knew the lDag belonged to deceased, and he heaid someone call out th it there was someone under the t mm Witness sa d, " Ooorl Uo:1, surely that can't be my matr." He stiuck matches and vent plong the platform, and found the body of decease! hanging op to the a^le l.ov of the oi.gine. Two or Iliroo me" voie f-tncating the body at the lime. Deceased was 9.UIU sober

. when with witness, and they had only knockej off work about 20 minutes. 1 To Sub-inspector Kiely : The engine, witness . thought, was about two chains away when they crossed the line. It proved to be c.oser than ] he thought, and he started to run. Witness , was about 40ft from the platform when he spoke '. to deceased. It wa3 pretty dark at the time. '. It was possible that deceased tripped on the rails, but witness could not bay that he did so. There was a double line of rails there. Thomas Thomson, labourer on the railway, slated that about half-past 5 o'clock he and another person were standing on the platform at the Cattle Yards station. Witness saw three men crossing from the end of the station, across the front of the incoming train. Two got on. to the platform ; but witness could not account ior the third, and did not know whether he had got knocked over or had stepped back. Witness was a little suspicious, r.nd looked at the side 01 the cainages as they came up, and ( saw a man being dragged along. He was under the axle of about the third truck back from the engine. \ Witness sang out that a man was under the train, and followed it up to try and get the man out as quickly as possible. He assisted to take the body out. The three men. were very close to the train when they began, to cross the line, but Tvhat the distance was witness could not say. Witness saw the men taking shelter from the wind under the lee of ; a tank before he went on to the platform. James Slight, the driver of the engine, said that on the train approaching the platform. ; his mate sang out to some persons crossing tho . road. He (witness) immediately whistled and I locked out, and saw two men rushing across the road right in front of the engine. Witne33 thought they were cutting it too fine, and that they were too close. It seemed to witness that the men got across. He did not see another man. When the tram stopped he heard I a commotion behind, and got off the engine and- went back and found that a man had been knocked down by the cowcatcher, and dragged alongside of the trucks. It would have D3en utterly impossible, even in daylight, to have pulled up in time to save the man, though they were going slowly. One of the relief cocks of the cylinder was broken off, and it was there the man must have been caught first, after being struck by the cowcatcher. Mr Graham, addressing the jury, said there appeared to have been no necessity for the men to have gojc to where they did, as they approached the platform from where they ! vorked; but they had gone across to obtain 1 shelter under the tank while waiting for the 1 tram. They had not kept such a strict look- ! out as they might have done for the approaching j tram, and they were unfortunately a minute or two too late in crossing over. There did not seem to be any blame attachable to anyove except the unfortunate man himself, and he (Mr Graham) did not think the jury would have any difficulty in arriving at a verdict that death was due to pure accident. The Jury returned a verdict that deceased met his death by being accidentally run over , by a railway tram, and added that no blame I was attachable to anyone.