Railway Accident

Southland Times, Issue 17482, 24 July 1915, Page 5

Railway Accident

ON MAIN TRUNK LINE Locomotives Fall Over Bank NO ONE INJURED Late yesterday afternoon a telegram came through from Wellington reporting an accident to the first express leaving Taumarunui for Auckland. It was stated that the engine fell through a bridge, that it was feared there were casualties, and that doctors with stretchers had left for the scene of the accident. Rumours spread fast and the Southland Time office was visited by scores of people anxious for news last night, while the telephone bell rang continuously. The first telegram read ominously, but happily all anxiety was relieved when the following telegram came to hand shortly before 11 p.m. (Per United Press Association.) WELLINGTON, July 23. Late this afternoon the Chief Postmaster, Wellington, received the following telegram from the postmaster at Taumarunui : “The engine of the express which left here at 2.30 p.m. is reported to have fallen through a bridge over a stream at Taringamutu, two miles from here (Taumarunui). It is said to be in the river. Some carriages are off the line. The mail van was immediately behind the engine.” A later message received from the Taumarunui postmaster at the Wellington office states : “No one was injured at Taumarunui. The mail van is lying on its side between two streams. The position at present is most difficult to extricate the train from, for both engines capsized.” FURTHER PARTICULARS Embankment Gives Way Engines and Postal Van Turn Over A Drop of Nine Feet MIRACULOUS ESCAPES Fireman Payne Slightly Injures Hand No Other Injury Whatever (Per United Press Association.) TAUMARUNUI, July 23. Passengers on the through Wellington to Auckland express, after a wait of several hours caused by slips on the line, left at 2.30 p.m. to-day, in one train consisting of two engines in front, the postal van. one sleeper, eight carriages and two luggage vans. When two miles north of here an embankment gave way under the second engine. The two engines and the postal van turned clean over and took a drop of nine feet partly into the Ongarue river. The driver in the leading engine applied the brakes in good time. The whole pumice bank gave way for a distance of fifty yards near the approach to the bridge over a culvert. The train was going at a speed of from two to three miles.

The driver, Feter Foyle, and the fireman, Geo. King 1 , jumped clear from the first engine and were uninjured. The fireman, A. 3*ayne, jumped clear from the second engine and escaped with a slight injury to his hand. The driver, Tom Nicholson, and District Knginecr Jeffries rolled over in the cab of the second engine and escaped without a scratch. Two Auckland postal officers rolled over in the postal van without injury. The sleeping car was derailed and fell partly down the bank. It was empty. ,\'o passengers were injured, but it was a very narrow escape. Driver Doyle, Fireman King, and Guard W. Duncan were In charge of the express in the Itaurimu accident last Saturday. After a further delay of several hours, the passengers were transferred to a train beyond the gap for Auckland, and the down express passengers were transferred to this side. another account. ■nrr ACCIDENT DESCRIBED. TROOPS ON THE TRAIN. POSTAL TAN IN THREE SMASHES. AUCKLAND, July 23. The first express leaving Taumarunui for Auckland .since yesterday morning loft at 2. 110 p.m. to-day. One mile out. the engine fell through a bridge. The train included the 1.10 p.m. and the 0.10 p.m. trains from Wellington yesterday. Particulars are meagre but it appears that the express, which left about 2.20 p.m., conveyed several hundred passengers and was an unusually long train, consisting really of the passengers of three previous expresses from Wellington, all of whom had been held up by the slips. The train smashed into a culvert just alongside the Ongarue river bridge. The culvert is a few yards in front of the bridge, and the flood waters had so weakened the supports that it gave way under the weight of the engine. This meant that the first engine practically left the rails and crashed on to the bridge, carrying that structure away with it as it dived into the river. The second engine was also derailed, but fortunately capsized before reaching the end of the river bank, and so probably saved the whole train from piling over the broken bridge into the stream. The mail van attached to the second engine also left the rails and capsized. This also acted as something of a buffer for the rest of the train, which was brought to a very sudden standstill. All the passengers, particularly those in the front carriages, received a frightful shaking, but fortunately no one was badly hurt. How the engine drivers and firemen of the overturned engines escaped is not known and it is difficult to understand, for the train, though travelling at a greatly reduced speed, nevertheless had considerable way on. So far as can at present be ascertained those on both engines were unhurt. The postal van, which was overturned, has been in three railway smashes. It has gone through the WTiangamarino and Raurimu collisions as well as the present mishap. It will, of course, be some days before even temporary repairs can be effected to the bridge, which means continued interruption of the main trunk traffic. Lieut. S. A. 'Carr, who is a passenger by the train, telegraphed at 4.30 p.m. : “Train derailed: quite saJe; marvellous escape. If any bad rumours tell papers all troops are safe.” The troops referred to are soldiers on leave belonging to the Sixth Reinforce*rn>ntm.

ASOTUXB ÜBBCEIPTIOH. xkgusxs Tmur slowly oteb, WOT A BOX.T SISmCEB, BAZET STOPPED: BITEBS PALLUrO. AUCKLAND, July 23. The facts telegraphed by the Herald’s Taumarunui correspondent are that a long train, drawn by two powerful engines, left Taumarunui for the north as already described. .Shortly after two o’clock, and nearly three miles further on, the train had to cross what the railway authorities apparently already regarded as a dangerous place. Owing to the rise of the Ongarue river a culvert had become blocked, and the water was forced into an old water course, and partly washed away and softened a low railway embankment crossing this water course, and also softened tb« filling under the sleepers in the immediate vicinity. The train, going dead slow, approached and partly crossed this placs, and then the line subsided and canted. The two engines and the mail van following rolled slowly over on to their sides, and the train came to a stop without much shock. Mot a bolt of ths engines has been disarranged, and it is only a question of putting them bade on to the line again. The enginemen jumped from the first engine, and the fireman jumped from ths second, but the driver and District Engineer Jeffries were rolled over in ths cab of the second engine, and two postal clerks had a similar experience in ths mail van. None were injured. The rains have ceased and the rivers are subsiding, but i t ports of considerable damage by floods are still earning in from the backblocks beyond Taumaranui and Te Kuiti. STATEMENT BY K AH. WAYS GJS, TEAPPIC HfTEEECTTED. rEESH SLIP BLOCKS TEX LUTS WEEKS PASSENGERS ABE, WELLINGTON', July 23. The following statement from ths General Manager of Railways was issued at 10 o’clock to-night:— “After arranging to tranship passengers it was found that the south-bound express could not get within two miles of the north-bound express, and transhipping had to be abandoned. Passengers in the north-bound are being brought back to Taumarunui; the southbound passengers are at Okahukora. There is a dining car and eighty passengers are on the train. Passengers who reached Te Kuiti from Taumarunui this morning are still at Te Kuiti, and. the last advice is that there no prospect of getting to to-night. All trains between Taumarunui and Frankton are suspended. The line south of Taumarunui is clear. Evidently a slip at Piketutu has come down again after the passing of the south-bound train, shutting that train in between Taringamtntu and Puketutu. THE COMMONWEALTH f FEDERAL LOAN BILL, (By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright!. MELBOURNE, July 23. In the Federal House the Loan Bill, covering advances of £6,500,000, passed all stages. Mr Fisher explained that when the Commonwealth borrowed £18,000,000 he saw that the amount was inadequate, and he approached, the British Government for a further £10,000,000, of which he obtained £6,500,000 without the authority of Parliament, which he hoped would be condoned. The Prime Minister, in explaining the war loan, said that fully three-fourths of the war expenditure would be spent in Australia The lean would be placed at different parts of the year so as not unduly to disturb the market. Increased opportunities were offered to investors. The banks had agreed to charge neither commission nor exchange. In connection with subscriptions to the loan the nominal amount asked in the first instalment was £5,000,000, but the full amount could be subscribed, and would be accepted by the Government. It could be taken up either in inscribed stock or in Treasury bonds. The minimum stock was £IOO, while the smallest bond was £lO, with interest at 4% per cent. The loan would be issued at par, payable half-yearly. The term of the loan was ten years. Subscription lists close on August 31. Stock will be inscribed in accordance with the Commonwealth Act, All bonds and transfers will be free and inscribed stock will be free of stamp tax and interest free of income tax. The prospectus of the loan shows that bonds will be issued in denominations of £lO. £IOO, £SOO and £IOOO, and inscribed slock in amounts of £IOO or any multiple thereof. In the House the War Loan Bill passed through all stages. NECESSITY FOR ECONOMY. MELBOURNE, July 23. At a conference of State Government Departments Sir A. J. Peacock emphasised the necessity for economy, stating that the financial outlook was very unsatisfactory. MECHANICS FOR ENGLAND. MELBOURNE, July 23. Arrangements are being made to send 150 mechanics to England in answer to the appeal. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TRANSPORT. MELBOURNE, July 23. Mr Jensen stales that the Government transport has earned £1,000,000 in carrying freight. BIG PRICE FOR BULLOCKS. SYDNEY, July 23. A further beef record has been established, Homebnsh bullocks making £l6 apiece. POLICEMEN AND RECRUITING. SYDNEY, July 23. The Government is paying country police 10s each for every successful recruit forwarded. STATES’ WAR FUND CONTRIBUTIONS. SYDNEY, July 23. New South Wales has contributed £1,007,764 to the war funds compared with £648,574 contributed by Victoria. AUSTRALIAN NEWS. CONTROL OF METALS SCHEME. MELBOURNE. July 23. The scheme for the disposal of metal includes the commandeering of all supplies of metals and metallic products, which will be sold by auction under Government control. The proceeds, less charges, will be paid to the owners. Before shipments are allowed the Government will require satisfactory evidence that the metal will not reach the enemy. AUSTRALIAN GENERAL HOSPITAL. MELBOURNE, July 23. Tiie Australian General Hospital ic England has been extended to two thousand beds. The new hospital unit required in consequence will consist of thirty-six officers, fifteen non-coms,, 16;, of oilier ranks, and also eighteen nnrECS. THE TARIFF QUESTION. MELBOURNE, July 23. In the House, the Minister of Customs stated that, after fully considering the matter, the Government had decided that it would be inadvisable to re-open the tariff question at present. MEETS ALL REQUIREMENTS. When you have a bad cold you want a remedy that will give quick, permanent relief and which, while pleasant to take, contains nothing injurious. Chamberlain’s Cough Remedy meets all these requirements. It acts on Nature’s plan, relieves the lungs, aids expectoration, opens the secretions and restores the system to a healthy condition. Chamberlain’s Cough Remedy can always be depended upon It can be given to the voungest and most delicate child with perfect safety. Sold everywhere. 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