TRAGIC MOTOR SMASH

Otago Witness, Issue 3882, 7 August 1928, Page 32

TRAGIC MOTOR SMASH

NIGHT EXPRESS- STRIKES CAR. YOUNG MAN KILLED OUTRIGHT. CHRISTCHURCH, August 2. A man was killed and two women were seriously injured at the level crossing at the north end of Dunsandel station at 11.15 last night when the night express to Invercargill struck a Ford motor car in which they were travelling. The occupants of the car were:— John Robert Walker, a young man, a farmer, of Dunsandel, killed. Mrs Catherine Edmiston, wife of Mr J. D. Edmiston, of Dunsandel, skull fractured and leg broken. Miss Muriel Laishley, sister of Miss D. Laishley, school teacher at Selwyn, shock and concussion.

Mrs Edmiston was reported this morning to be a in a very serious condition.

The three occupants of the car had been attending a social in the Dunsandel Hall, and at the time of the accident Miss Laishley was driving Mrs Edmiston home. Mr Walker, who was 18 years of age, went in the car to open a gate so that Miss Laishley would not have to get out of tJic car. He was sitting in the rear .seat at the time of the smash. There are no obstructions to seeing railway traffic approaching on the line from either direction. It is believed that the brakes of the car failed when the crossing was reached. The impact was a violent one, the car being thrown over the cattle stops. The train was stopped immediately, and it was found that Walker was dead and that the two women were badly hurt. The body and the injured persons were placed on board the train and conveyed to the Ashburton Hospital. A delay of three-quarters of an hour was involved. In the case of non-stop trains passing Dunsandel at night the engine-driver gives a long blast as a warning to the crossing as well as a signal to the station. Last night the officer on duty on the station heard the long blast of the engine whistle, and then gave a hand lamp signal from the platform to the driver. This, it is said, was acknowledged from the engine by a further short blast in accordance with the usual

custom. This practice of the double whistle is invariably followed at Dunsandel, and. besides the railway officer on duty, another officer stated this morning that he heard both whistles. It was just after the short whistle of acknowledgment that the crash was heard.

Ihe train crew and the local railway officers were confronted with a terrible sight when they rushed up to the crossing. The occupants of the car were lying on'the side of the track, one being killed outright and the others badly injured and incapable of helping themselves., The car itself was totally wrecked. J

Airs Edmiston’s husband is employed as a farm labourer in the Dunsandel district, their home being a short distance on the west side of the fatal crossing. Mr Walker was a son of Mr John Walker, a well-known farmer of this district. The young man had intended returning in the car with Miss Laishley. Miss Laishley, who was driving, said that frost dimmed the windscreen, and, as the side curtains were up, the accident happened before the occupants knew they were in any danger. The inquest on Walker was opened this morning, and was adjourned sine die. From inquiries at the hospital -this afternoon it was learned- that Miss Laishley was a little easier. Mrs Edmiston's condition is still very low. DEATH OF MRS EDMISTON. ASHBURTON, August 3. Mrs Catherine Edmiston, the wife of J. D. Edmiston, of Dunsandel, the second victim of the level crossing collision at Dunsandel on Wednesday, succumbed at the hospital. She was 43 years old. Miss Muriel Laishley s condition is improving.