TRAMWAY SMASH.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12739, 8 September 1919, Page 8

TRAMWAY SMASH.

COMMISSION OF INQUIRY. TO-DAY’S PROCEEDINGS. Tne Commission of Inquirv into the cause, or causes, of the tramway smash at Hoathcote on May 15 was resumed at tho Courthouse to-dav. before the Commissioner, Mr S. K. M’Carthy, /'{’j DoUgail appeared on behalf ot the Christchurch Tramwav Board, Mr A H. Kimball for the Public Works opartment and Mr J. Hutchison for u “ T ,^ ra i nwa y kxnployees’ Union. n ,.;|l e witness to-day was Thomas william Ihompson, a clerk residing at oprejdon, who was a passenger on fcho rear trailer at the time of the accident. He stated that as far as he could recollect there were .about nine or ten people on the platform and steps at the rear end of the trailer. There were several children on tho platform. The car was travelling fast and was gathering speed prior to tho accident. Tne car swayed and. bumped considerably after it left the points, before overturning, so much so that a child standing near witness was thrown out on to the road. To Mr Kimball: The middle trailer was about as crowded as the rear one. In witness’s opinion the tram was overcrowded. He had seen bigger crowds on tho trams on race days and gala _ The tram travelled faster over the points (just prior to the accident! than witness had ever known it travel over these points. To Mr Hutchison; If them had been a conductor on the rear trailer he could not have signalled the motorman in time to prevent the accident. The intervening time was too short. To the Commissioner: There were more adults than children on the trailer. H. De Courcv Browne, traffic manager for the Christchurch Tramways was re-examined. Ho stated that ‘in submitting his analysis of the aggregate OTerioncling, in tho course of his evidence on Friday last,- his ortimMe of oO per cent had been based on the total load on the trailer, instead of 50 per cent nf the. inr.ide load only. This altered the figure 58. quoted' tv him, to 40. ‘ ’ Mr Don gall: Conductor Barbour said he had never known the hoard’s officers to limit the overloading of cars. sVha«have you to ray to that 0 Witness: I can corroborate the evidence given by Air Thompson on that point. Not once nor twice, out frequently I have started a car with a fair load on it, hut after it has started, and while still in motion, a. large nv.m----1 her of passengers have boarded'it. Rebutting evidence given earlier in the inquiry, witness (jenied that motormeitf sometimes started their cars without any signal from the conductor in order to assist them, "Where such cases were reported the motorman concerned had been punished. Orders had frequently been issued that motormen must not start without tho correct signal from the conductor. The -increase in the number of assistant conductors had been in progress long before Mav last. The number of assistant conductors now in the hoard’s employ was thirty, as against seventeen in January last. Witness did not consider that . the running time on the Stunner line was too short- Ho gave a detailed analysis of the stops and rnnning times on tho city-Sumner trip. The distance from the Square to Woolston was 251 chains. At the Order-in-Council speed of fifteen miles an hour, and if no stops were made and the speed limit not exceeded, the trip could be made in 12 minutes 34 seconds. Allowing six city stops at 15 seconds each and fifteen stops ontsido the city area of 10 seconds each —this gave a total of 4 minutes in stops—the aggregate time required was 16 minutes 34 "Witness allowed 18 minutes. From Woolston to Sumner the distance was 389 chains. If no stops were made and the speed limit not exceeded, tlie journey conld be made in 16 minutes 10 seconds- Witness allowed fifteen stops ■at T6 seconds each, aggregating 18 minutes 40 seconds. Witness allowed 25 minutes. The full running time allowed by the timetable was 43 minutes, including 2 minutes at the tanks loop for picking up or dropping trailers. This gave 7 minutes 46 seconds over and above the running time, for slowing down at points, crossings, etc.' It was very seldom that .all the stops were made on a journeyThe suggestion that one minute should be allowed for each stop was absurd. Mr Kimball: What steps do you take to see that your regulations forbidding children to ride on platforms and on stairways are carried out? Witness: The ordinary steps—supervision by all traffic officers, including inspectors and myself. "Witness added that he bad not reprimanded any inspectors for not seeing that these regulations were enforced. He did not reprimand them. If he saw anything happening which was not m accordance with the regulations he told them what he wanted done in future. Mr Kimball: Since the accident have any instructions been issued regarding speed over points. Witness: Only verbal ones—to exercise more care- No instructions have been given to slow down beyond the regulation speed. Witness did consider that if the car had approached tho points at four miles an hour, as required by the board’s rule book and the Order-in-Conncil, the overturning of the trailer would have been averted. Witness did not consider that the speed at which the trailer was travelling was responsible for the distance it travelled after leaving the prints. Ho considered it was due to the fact that the motorman kept the pqwe- on. Witness considered that the 50 per cent overloading on trailers, as allowed by tho regulations. was perfectly safe—personally, he would he prepared to go even further than 50 per cent. Witness did not consider that an assistant conductor, was required on the Sumner trip beyond Woolston. as the hulk of the conductor’s work had been done bv tbe time Woolston was reached. Witness^considered that it was quite possible for a conductor efficiently and safely to manage a car and two trailers carrying 2o>o passengers, if ho saw that everything was clear before giving the starting signal. Two conductors would make for increased efficiency and safety. Norman Reid, a watchmaker and an expert in timing, gave evidence that he had timed tho stops on the Sumner line, having made two trips for that purpose. The average time of the Stops inside the city area was 13 087 seconds, and outside the city area 10.64 seconds, making for the whole journey an average of 11.16 seconds The average number of stops was 2 / .2 , out of 33 stops provided for in the tunetaThomas "William Richardson, motor inspector for the Christchurch Tramwav Board, said he had had experience of The tramway systems of Brisbane, Auckland and Christchurch. Witness considered that the time allowed on the Sumner ran was quite sufficient, and saw no reason whv it should be extended. Motorman Read was a very careful motorman. He was considered a slow driver, rather than a fast oneIn witness’s opinion the cause of the •trailer taking the north line was an obstruction in the points, causing the tongue to he half open. If the points were half onen a motorman should notice it Witness did not consider that •the overloading of the trailer had anything to do with the derailment. Overloading on the top -deck would tend to make a trailer temple over after it had left the rails. The fact that th© derailed trailer had travelled pn two wheels indicated speed in witness’s opinion. Tliis concluded the inquiry. At Mr DougnTl’s suggestion the Commissioner decided to make a run in a | car to-morrow, with a speedometer, ntj tnched, the oar to travel through points simila'r to those where the accident

happened, at a speed of four miles an Mr Dongall and Mr Kimball expressed appreciation of the manner in which the Commissioner had conducted the inqmry which has lasted just on a fortnight* The Commissioner said he would forward report to the ■ Government when he had had time to sift the mass of evidence which had