THE RAKAIA DISASTER.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6500, 1 June 1899, Page 4

THE RAKAIA DISASTER.

— •> ■ THE CHARGE OF MANSLAUGHTER. » PROCEEDINGS IN THE SUPREME \ COURT. . j At the Supreme Court yesterday, before ( his Honor Mi* Justice Denniston, Charles ' Henry Garter, who was defended by ( _dr Joynt, was charged with that he-did, 1 on March 11, 1899, at Rakaia, kill Rose . Florence Harwood, Mary Ann Franks, and, Frances Evelyn Jones, and did thereby commit the crime of manslaughter. . j Samuel Hughes, engine-driver, deposed^ that on March 11 he was driving an enginej on the Methven line, and in the evening of that day was standing with his engine on; a culvert some 330 yards south of the plat- • form. Remembered the witness O'Neill,; who was carrying a red hand lamp, asking him the time. Witness told O'Neill the time was 6.52, and O'Neill then went on to the main line ahd walked south. When the . second excursion . train passed, witness noticed the brake of the guard's van skidding, and sparks coming from the wheel. He estimated the speed of the train at from 15 to 20 miles per hour, and did niot consider it possible for the. driver to have pulled up outside the station limit. Having reconsidered the latter point, witness said he would not be sure whether the. driver could have pulled up or not. On the night in question -witness could see the headlight of the Christchurch train on the bridge« some three-quarters of a mile away. j To Mr Joynt : Did not know why O'Neill] had come over to witness's engine. Did not see O'Neill after the latter had left the en- : gine. Witness could not tell exactly how fast the second excursion train. was going. 1 The headlight of an engine would show much further than a red light. Carter would have' seen the headlight on witness's engiue. Robert M'Kee, fireman, deposed that on March 1, he was on the Methven engine with the last witness, . whose evidence he gener-. ally corroborated. Witness heard the excursion engine giving the signal for brakes,' the train being then some distance south of. where the Methven engine was standing, i Henry Curson, guard, deposed that on the, evening of March 11 he was on tfie first ex-, cursion train. Heard the engine of the second train signal for brakes, and, knowing there was danger, tried to get his train put of the way. Witness thought the accident happened at 7.3. Witness experienced no difficulty in regulating the pace of his train , 80 as to stop at the Rakaia platform. - To Mr Joynt : Witness had plenty of time to travel, and arrived at Rakaia three or four minutes before time. They slacked off at Chertsey, and ran slowly on to Rakaia. His train was not keeping another one waits ing. Witness saw a man 300 or 400 yards „ down the line at 6.50, but saw no light. Michael Gardiner, engine-driver, deposed that he was driving one of the engines on the first excursion train on March 11. He was driving a Baldwin engine of the same class as that used by Carter. Witness was south of the Alford Forest Road when he got the . signal to come into the station. Witness remembered the second excursion train com.ing in, and would not say how far a red light could have been seen when the second train arrived. To Mr Joynt: Witness shut off steam about half a mile south of the Rakaia Station. At the time of shutting off steam liis . train would be running about twenty-five miles an hour. ' To Mr Stringer : The time for cutting oft* •steam depended upon the speed of the train, ' its weight, and the state of the rails. William Hyland, driver of the : second engine of the first train, deposed that the collision must have occurred at about 7.3 p.m. Joseph Stanley, police constable, stationed at Rakaia, deposed that on March 11 he heard the .engine of the second excursion train whistle sharplly three times on ap- . preaching the station. The collision occurred . almost immediately afterwards. At this point, Mr Joint admitted the deaths of the persons mentioned in the indictment. William Climpson, guard of the second train, deposed that he had been left behind at Ashburton, and that the van brakes were in good order after the accident. Witness rejoined his train at Rakaia, and came on to Christchurch with it. To Mr Joynt .* The wheels of a van would he more liable to skid in .wet than in dry weather. Charles Fowke, first-grade engineman, deposed to having run on the south line for twenty-four or twenty-five years. He knew the Baldwin engines (Claw U), with '.the Westihghouse brake, which, when properly kept, was the toost effective brake in use on the New Zealand railways. A heavy downpour made * good running . rail, but drizzling weather a greasy one. To Mr Joynt : Witness was running tho 4.49 p.m. train from Christchurch on March 11, and had used brakes similar to the Westinghouse on the "N" claes of engines. Arthur Gray Watkins, running-shed fitter, deposed thnt engine IJ, 284, h*d bsea regslarly examined before und fcftei* Mcu.c_-.-l, and was in good mnning order ia every respect on the morning of that day. It would hay* been Carter's businc-- to draw the attention of witnea* to any defect. After the collirion the front foot-plate was bent, and tha front buffer stove m, bat moras. of the running parts were out of order. . One . engine, and two. tender, brake blocks wew '..* worn thin *t the bottom,, but tSafe did not ; . . affect the efficacy of th« brake*. Witn*i« spoke to Carter after tha •ocidattt, when th* ■■■" latter-aid the engine held flrrt-'dlate wlien : he cut m the tender brake. '." ' ' ' y . To Mr Joynt : Witness examinod the air- . brake by actual tfieJ, «n_. h« had' never heard of any obstruction oocurring in the pipe. James Coard deposed that he was a railway eng-memaa, and had been ramaiag engine V, 284, which was in the nun* order now as nt the time of the accident, and wain first-class order. He h*d run down from Waikari with thirty-*ix sheep track* behind the engine, and had no trouble in controlling them. Mr May, re-called, said that ib wa« usual, at Rakaia, for the engine to whistle wlic.. breasting the rise, when the signal from the station was either given or withheld. James Burnett, railway engineer, deposed - to having made a survey of the R->k»ia rrtationyard and Kne adjoining. -Tlie pltc© -where O'Neill etated he stood with tikedanger signal wae 345 yards from the south end of the Rakaia platform. The p&sition of the guard's van of the flret train before and after the oollision waa tlao shown on the plan. On a trial erubß-quent to the accident it was found that » mark representing the lamp— a white handkerchief bold against a black coat — couUd be distinguished in daylight. at 715. yawls. To Mr Joynt : The head-light of an engine could be seen' a mile from the station, and Would remain in view of a person on the platform until the station was reached. Witness had known Carter for many years, and had no reason to doubt his care and reliability. Witness was of opinion that the first train was actually in motion at the time the collision occurred. Witness had in- - eluded n semaphore at Rakaia in a list oi works which were desirable, but had not specialised : it. To Mr Stringer : The station limit was

he southernmost point of the yard, and was 1 s 75 yards from the platform T'*) Mr Joynt : O'Neill was seventy yards I outh of the station limit. Alfred Luther Beattie, Locomotive Supevntendent of the Hurunui-Bluff section, deposed that Carter had been a driver since 1878, previous to which time he had been a, fireman. The date of the accident was the forty- fourth day on which Carter had driven engine U 284, 'which, with its tender, was fitted 'With a most effective and up-to-date automatic Westinghouse brake, working on fourteen wheels. Witness was on the express, arid arrived at Rakaia shortly after the accident. Witness -esamined the engine; but' could find no defect in the engine or brakes. -Garter told witness the brakes had not worked as he expected. On the follow-. ing A Monday witness carefully examined the engine, when he found all the running and brake gear in perfect order. From Chertsey to Rakaia 1 , a distance of five miles twentytwo chains, there was a fall of 29ft. * If the times given by the former witnesses were correct, Carter had run thirty-three miles an •hour between Ashburton aud Chertsey, which was 55ft above the former place. Tlie rate travelled by. Carter- between Chertsey and Rakaia would have been forty-five miles £er hour from end to end, which was dangerous,aud in. excess- of the maximum, which was thirty-six miles an hour/ though -the latter, pace might be increased by certain trains,' under certain circumstances, on certain por-, tions of the line. This referred to the express trains, and was „nunwritten qualification of the written rule. All engine-drivers were supplied with copies , of the' railway rules and regulations' and the working appendix. Carter was examined in the. rules six! months prior to -the accident, and was then proficient. The engine U 284 had been keptj in the same order as it was before the acci-; dent. , „ I' To Mr Joynt: Carter was a thoroughly qualified driver, 'and a < capable and trust.! worthy maii. The drivers of excursion trains had not been instructed to extend the pace authorised by the regulations. 'Driver Carter had no authority, written or .unwritten, to exceed thirty-six miles an hour with the excursion train. To his Honor: The express tram was specially engined, andi appointed for a higher rate of speed. The- witness explained that a speed of forty-five miles .an.hour was not in itself dangerous, but -was. dangerous under, the circumstances of having to pull up at, Rakaia. The maximum of speed here was a maximum of economy, not a maximum of safety. ' The !) Baldwin^Mv.was*'Used for the express,' but* the Baldwin U was a more powerful engine, andr more, .heavily braked. Witness-would* consider dt dangerous for any man .torrto forty-five :iriiles an hour between Chertseyi-aild].Rakaia,'.when it was intended to.^stop ati the latter place. Witness considered* thatOGarter, acting on his own judgment,. -homdr.not have travelled at. the pace he did. twenty .mules per hour was the maximum. pace;, here for crossing bridges. The drivers, .hadnot been supplied with* printed or written instructions regarding the use of the\ Westinghouse; brake, but the expert who hroughfe the engines over had given the drivers'.i_lli*inform»tion concerning its use. , . nnn -, , _ Mr Joynt quoted from the 1897 book of. instructions, concerning the use of the Westim-house brake, published by the company, who kept experts to work, without] charge, in teaching f- engine-drivers and,, others. „ .. Witness continued *. /As far as he .knew 1 that book had not come to New Zealand.' Where a driver was not i previously ac-, quainted with an automatic brake he doubtless required instruction. It was, however, ouite possible for .a driver to, apply an automatic brake effectually without understanding its somewhat compli-l cated details. The driver would not hay _•; an opportunity of rectifying one of thes' brakes if he had much gear to take down;. Pipe-scale or other stuff might possibly ge into a triple valve during a journey, am:; thus hinder the working of the brake, which! the driver would not have the necessary: time to repair. The witness believed that 1 most of the drivers here had a good working knowledge of the construction -of the air brake. In America the use and construe- 1 tion of the air brake was a subject for; special instruction. The automatic airj brake as a possibility was liable to get] occasionally out of repair. On one occasion j witness had experienced a slowness in releasing, which he thought was accounted for by the newness of the gear. It was| possible for the triple valve to stick, but witness had never seen ah instance of it. The absence of a pump governor made a difference if the driver neglected to shut off steam, when -he would pump at, a higher pressure than was desirable, and have some difficulty in releasing his brake, though he would have no trouble in putting his brake on. There was a possibility of an engine getting away on a down grade through there being too much water in the drum. Had any of the brake ailments mentioned by Mv Joynt existed in the Westinghouse brakes in use here they would have been found out and rectified before now. Witness was aware of an instance on Dec. 14 where the Westinghouse brake failed to work. . That, however, was tlie fault of the man, not of the brake. Tho man had allowed his pressure to fall to 401ba, and it ought not have been allowed to get below 601bs. To Mr Stringer : Witness had no reason whatever for believing that any of the defeats Mentioned by Mr Joynt had existed on the engine at Rakaia on March 11. To Mr Joynt : Assuming that no accident occurred, the continuous brake was safo. i John Empson, fitter, deposed to having examined engine U 284 on the morning oi March 11. Everything was in good order, Tkie witness corroborator! the previous-ex-pert avid-nee on this subject. , . , To Mr. Joynt : He would not know' that ■mnjihvmg*,WM£ *<f^g--with4he:-brake^^n-lesa it h«i_t been reported .Wrong by. the ! driver.,, -•-.•-• Tha Court adjourned at 4.45 p.m.- until 10 o'clook this morning. On %i<*ppJjfi»tion;oi-Mr Joynt' His Honor granted the 'accused bail in his own recog--nisan-es; ; , ""-