EXETER DISASTER.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 144360, 26 March 1914, Page 5

EXETER DISASTER.

A FRIGHTFUL SCENE,

NARRATIVES OF SURVIVORS.

SYDNEY, March 14. No one could adequately describe the scene of awful confusion that the collision caused. It was dark. The moon was almost at the full, but a. thick fog obscured it, and it was impossible ir> see an object more than a few yards ahead. Consequently when people m tho vicinity of tire station heard a crash at midnight they were unable to see what was amiss; but they were attracted OV cries for help, and before long ail those in the neighbourhood were out to do what they could to assist in extricating tho passengers. "When wo got there.” explained .Mr. J. li. .Meyers, a storekeepergluing opposite Exeter Station- "wc didu t know what to do. Tho scene was_ dreadful. It was too mvlul for words. As he spoke an engine with a badly smashed carriage passed , , "Sec that, ho said, “that is the carriage which was forced right through the centre of the carriage behind U. It looks pretty badly splintered, oocsn t it? But i.’is uiuiaimod in comparison with the other one —not. a window or door was lvU intact, aim human neings were r.s mticli mixed to the awtul debris, as were glass ami woodwork. Mr. Badgery. M.L..1.. and lin, ;un Leslie were there amongst the first, and .Mr. liadgeiy directed operations. Me burned away and got tools wnh which to extricate the poor peop.e. 1 ran hack to the shop and got hall-a-iie/.cn axes, and with these we were able to got the people out. Bui the .-pec-aclc was heartrending. Tim c arriages were hanked into a heap, and a- the .-.trnetme was cut away laces drawn in pain ivcie line alter another revealed.

•■Thu people who were holding me spare lamps were afraid to approach the wreckage mo elcsely. for gas was escaping oadiy, and wc all leaved an explosion; bn; we did all we could. _ “As the bodies were out ot tno tangled mas;, they were placed on rtrctclu-rs or cushions horn the sleeping compartment behind the teleseiijied carnage, and well carried to Hm station. a hundred yards distant, and made as eumloriable a.s possible until a easualtv train was fixed up. A message was scut tn Alnss Vale, and the engine came trurn there. lit'. l sleeper, which was not damaged, was attached to that, and .some ol the injured and several of the dead were placed on it and taken to Iknvral. Air. liadgery. who is presidetu- of the lii.wral Hospital, accompanied them. ■•There were/' Air. Meyers continued. "many ban owing scenes, and many wonderful escapes. Jhe most fortunate people on the train were an engine-driver and his wife, who wore in a compartment- of the telescoped carriage. They wore earl) in a corner, •sitting faring 'the engine, and when the pile of splintered wood and twisted iron and broken glass was removed from them they were found to be practically unbanned, although people who were on the same scat in between them were killed. The man was not rescued until more than an hour after the accident, and his wife an hour later than that. There was an affecting scene when they met. Much had ex'peetod the other to have no hope of surviving.’’

Of :iU the incidents in the calamity nothin” equalled the pathos Mirroundinpc the Heaver family. Mr. Heaver was at one lime, a publican at I’arramat.ta. where he was well known, hut lie had been for some time at Wallendheen. Mrs. Arthur Heaver was dreadfully injured, and died in her husband's amis shortly after she was carried to the station. Mr. Heaver was suffering from severe injuries, and his sister was also in a serious condition, her leg having been fractured, and other injuries sustained. STORY FROM MAH, VAX. Four strong men. who were the survivors of the quintette that occupied the mail van. which telescoped the ear containing sleeping passengers, told their pathetic story to the Superintendent of Mails at tlie G.R.O. this morning. They all broke down when they described the finding of the haltered remains of their chief, Mi 1 . Bray. The survivors of the front van were Messrs. Xcvill. Studdert, O'Connor, ami Vindin, and their escape was nothing short of miraculous. All were suffering from shock, and more than one had minor injuries. Vindiji was limping, and appeared to have been otherwise hurt.

Their story, as told piecemeal, was that all were hard at work sorting and stamping mails in the vain, when they felt the train slowing up near Exeter. “Poor Bray put his head out of the doorway to see what was doing,” said one. “and the next minute the crash came. His head was jambecl between the door and tho woodwork, and crushed. Me were scut flying in all directions about the car, some landing on bags or up against tho fixtures and iSioes of the van. When wo recovered we looked for our mate and found him dying under a heap of material. lie died in Ted Vindin’s arms.” The mail sorters arrived in Sydney about 10 a.m., and speedily made their way to their head office. Instructions had been issued by the Deputy Post-master-General for every attention to be shown them, and for the relief of tho immediate necessities .of Mrs. Bray. When, shaken and unnerved, the guards had made their report, they were sent home in motor cars to rest. Work in a mail-van is always carried on at high pressure, and no one was idle when tho collision occurred, and the car was driven through a weaker one behind it. The mail men recognised that their escape was due to tho transfcrranco of the force of the impact through tho car in which they were working.

“ONE TAKEN : THE OTHER LEFT.” “For God’s sake don’t talk about it. My mato was talking to mo one minute, and the next he was in eternity,” said Assistant Mail-guard Studdort, on arrival at Liverpool this morning. “I was with poor Bray in the mail van. We were sorting letters. A few minutes before he was joking with me. Without the slightest warning there was a terrific smash. Before I could turn round I was launched into darkness and knocked over. I was stunned for a moment. Then I got from under a beam and crawled out. All was excitement and confusion. There were piteous screams of people in agony. I hurried to look for my mato, and found that he was dead—ho had been killed instantly. I don’t know how I escaped. Wo were side by side —one was taken and the oilier left. It was terrible. I will never forget the anguish I went through as long as 1 live. I can’t say how thankful lam that/ I am alive and practically unhurt. The mail van was next to the engine, so we got the full force of the blow. Nono of us knew anything till it was all over.”